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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797380">"Under the Knife"</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWithADinosaur/pseuds/WritingWithADinosaur'>WritingWithADinosaur</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>"Under the Knife" [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:20:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>28,569</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797380</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWithADinosaur/pseuds/WritingWithADinosaur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hannibal Lecter &amp; Reader, Hannibal Lecter/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>"Under the Knife" [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1793590</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>197</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. "Under the Knife" - Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p><p>Author's Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.<br/>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.<br/>This is beta-read by @theeactress, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again! And as always, feedback is greatly appreciated!<br/>&lt;3<br/>- DreaSaurusREX</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So Jack wants to take another Graham, does he now?” Will spoke to you despite having his face in a notebook, preparing for his next lecture. There was definitely a bit of venom in his voice at the idea. </p><p>You had come to your brother for advice on whether or not to take Special Agent Jack Crawford up on his offer to be part of his team. In reality, you had nearly made up your mind, but you still wanted Will to be informed and have a voice.</p><p>	You and your brother both worked with the FBI in Quantico in their Behavioral Science Department. Neither one of you wanted to be full-on FBI agents even if you could pass the rigorous screenings. Will had settled with lecture halls while you were a piece that fit most places.<br/>
You started by helping out your colleagues in the research databases department but then quickly impressed higher-ups with your smarts and ability to take on different perspectives. So you moved on to teaching. After doing a decent amount of classes on stress management and psychology (both normal and <em>ab</em>normal), those higher-ups saw your clear passion for abnormal psychology in criminals and thought it would be beneficial to have you continue teaching while also working in the Evil Minds Research Museum. </p><p>You’ve been comfortably working between those areas for the last 6 or so months. And now Jack Crawford wanted to try to fit you into yet <em>another</em> department. </p><p>“Seems like it.” You sipped from your water bottle as you sat in a nearby lecture hall seat that you had grown comfortable with over your time teaching. You were watching Will, making sure he was okay with even the idea of you potentially working with Crawford on actual crime scenes. </p><p>Will wasn’t the most sociable with normal people, but you weren’t “normal people.” You were his sister, his only real family, and he was a bit protective over you. You weren’t sure if he would actually do anything if someone tried to hurt you, but you knew he would be mentally destroyed if anything happened to you. Knowing this, you took it upon yourself to get some basic self-defense training as well as be certified on how to handle firearms. Despite all of the training you’ve done, it still didn’t ease Will’s protective brother side much.</p><p>You had shifted your gaze down to look at your hands and fiddle with a ring that you kept on your middle finger as a fidgeting tool. It wasn’t until there was a long beat of silence between the two of you that you heard Will’s slightly wavering voice.</p><p>“You’re not <em>actually</em> thinking about saying yes, are you?” Will finally looked up at you and saw that you were twisting your ring, which meant you were even a little bit anxious.  </p><p>“I mean, I’m not thinking about <em>not</em> going.” You looked up and slightly shrugged, earning a slightly annoyed sigh from Will as he looked down and tapped his knuckles on his desk a few times, trying to think of what to say next. </p><p>“Will what I say matter or have you already made your decision?” Will couldn’t bring himself to look at you, he had a feeling he knew what you were going to say, and it wasn’t good.</p><p>“I think I’m going to do it.” </p><p>“(Y/N)...” Will took off his glasses and rubbed his face with slight worry. </p><p>“I know! I know it's dangerous. The people that Jack goes after are the ones that we lecture about to rookies and the ones who’s stuff I have to look over in that damn museum and the ones that we warn everyone to stay away from. But I--”</p><p>“Exactly! Which is why you <em>shouldn’t</em> go out and deal with them!” </p><p>“But isn’t that a good reason for me <em>to</em> go out and deal with them?” Both you and Will had similar distastes for eye contact, but at least with you, he usually looks in your general direction. He had been avoiding looking until now. He was confused as to where your brain was going. </p><p>“<em>Think</em> about it, Will. With how much <em>we</em> know about the types of people that are out there and with how we can get into their heads and understand them better than most people? As much as I respect Jack and his team, I’m <em>sure</em> that having me as a profiler will help them get different angles and catch these killers quicker! The only people that could be better would be you or Hannibal! I have a chance to <em>save</em> lives!”</p><p>“You already do by being safe and teaching recruits on how--”</p><p>“You know that’s not what I mean. I mean that I can help a team of professionals catch the bad guys so that I can teach about more survivors instead of victims!”</p><p>The room was silent then. Will understood your reasoning and knew that you had made your choice, but he was scared. He was trying to busy himself to help him think and calm down, something Dr. Lecter had talked to him about.</p><p>He’s been in the field with Jack and his team and seen awful things. The only reason he hadn’t completely lost it was because of his friend and therapist, Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal understood how to talk to Will and help him process what was going on in his mind. Your relationship with Hannibal was similar to Will’s, but instead of a therapist, Hannibal was your friend and colleague. </p><p>You hated putting your brother in this position, but you wanted to join the team. If it was only for a week or even a couple of days, that would still be an experience to put under your belt. You looked at your watch as your brother spoke up.</p><p>“It’s almost time for my class. We can talk more later.”</p><p>“I don’t know if I can. I have a quick meeting in a few minutes, then I have to give Jack my answer in an hour. Then I have dinner with Hannibal later.” Will stopped what he was doing and sighed again. You could see the wheels in his head going too fast as he tried to come up with something to say. You walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. </p><p>“I promise I am going to be safe. I’m only needed for crime scenes and then most of my work is going to be done at the lab or in an office here somewhere.” </p><p>“See you think that a-and then Jack pulls you in more and more and you won’t--”</p><p>“Hey! Breathe.” </p><p>You both pause to take a couple of deep breaths together. He finally looks at you when he seems to have calmed down a bit. </p><p>“I know you’re going to say no, but would you feel better if you were working with me on the team?” Will let out a short laugh and looked at you to see if you were serious. “I’ll take that as a no.” You hear a couple of students filing in behind you. You pat your brother’s shoulder and speak up before he can say anything. </p><p>“I’ll check in with you as often as I can if that’ll help” All Will could do was nod a yes. You nod back and wave goodbye, changing your course from ‘calming Will down’ to ‘how to handle Jack Crawford.’</p><p>~~~~~~~~</p><p>	Will was glad that he had an appointment with Hannibal after his lecture. Almost as soon as the door had shut, Hannibal could sense something was upsetting him. Hannibal took his seat as Will paced the office and explained your whole conversation with him.</p><p>When Will was finished and could finally take a breath, Hannibal let a beat of silence pass as he thought of what to ask.</p><p>“Why do you think you are so upset by all of this? Certainly, you know that (Y/N) is qualified for this type of promotion. She is trained and has as good of a grasp on the minds of criminals as you do.”</p><p>“Because she is my <em>sister</em> a-and I know-- I <em>know</em> how Jack pushes people to their breaking point in order to get what he wants. And I--” Will struggled with his words. Hannibal created such a safe space for Will that he was able to let his guard down and really show how upset he was, a blessing and a curse. When he finally sat down, he leaned forward and looked down at the ground, Hannibal could see that he was trying not to tear up. “I don’t think I would ever forgive myself if something happened to her.”</p><p>Will tried to focus on his breathing while Hannibal observed him trying to use some techniques he had taught. Once Will seemed to catch his breath, Hannibal pressed further.</p><p>“You are afraid that unless <em>you</em> are there to stop him from pushing (Y/N) too hard, Jack will put her life in danger? But because you also don’t want to be exposed to Jack’s… <em>motivations</em>… you feel trapped. ” </p><p>Will nodded his head and let out a shaky “yes.” Hannibal slightly nodded and leaned a bit forward as an idea grew. </p><p>“What if there was a way for us to respect her choice <em>and</em> guarantee (Y/N)’s safety?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. "Under the Knife" - Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p><p>Warnings: Talks of murders, talk of crime scenes, cursing</p><p>Author’s Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.</p><p>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After your meeting with Jack, you filled out some paperwork and made it official: You were going to be his profiler for any case that he wanted to call you in for. And apparently he already had one building.</p><p>	“We have a suspected serial killer hitting close to home. Three killings in Montclair, Lorton, and Fredericksburg.” As he said the Virginian cities, Jack plopped 3 case files in front of you and moved to the board full of evidence that he had.</p><p>	“<em>Oh!</em> We’re starting right now? O-Okay.” He turned from the board to look at you with a sort of incredulous way. </p><p>	“Do you have a problem with that?” </p><p>	“I mean, we literally <em>just</em> signed the papers. I thought I would have a night to prepare instead of being thrown right in.” You said the truth without seeming ungrateful or annoyed, which was good. But you instantly started to nervously ramble as Jack nodded and walked back to his desk. “But if we need to start right now, I can. I just wasn’t ready for--”</p><p>	“You’re right. We’ll start talking tomorrow. For now, take those files, do your homework, and report here at 9AM. We’ll go to the lab and introduce you to Beverly, Price, and Zeller.” Jack smiled and motioned toward the door. </p><p>	“Thank you. I will see you tomorrow morning!” You tried to be professional but also show that you were actually excited to work with him. <br/>	“See you tomorrow.”</p><p>	After putting the files securely in your bag, you headed to your apartment. You put the files on your dining room table before you hung up your coat and work bag. You checked your watch. You had dinner plans with Hannibal in an hour and a half. You stood between your room and the table that the files were seated on. You fidgeted with your ring for a few seconds as you debated on whether or not to start catching up on the case now or after dinner. </p><p>	“I can read over the first one and then get ready for dinner.” You told yourself as you pulled out the semi-comfy chair and opened the file. </p><p>	<strong>Case: #566-A </strong></p><p>	This case was from 8 weeks ago in Montclair. <em>Ballsy to be close to the FBI and kill people.</em> There were two victims: Dr. Everet Stevenson and his wife Whinnie. They were found dead in their shared bedroom in their upper-class house. <em>A nice upper-class place thanks to being a doctor.</em> </p><p>Whinnie looked like a murder that you would find in an armed robbery case: Quick throat slit, not much thought or motive into it, left on the floor to bleed out. Dr. Everet on the other hand was what you assumed grabbed Jack’s attention.</p><p>	Dr. Everet was in the middle of their bed. The autopsy report claimed that the cause of death was exsanguination which made sense considering he was <em>in pieces</em>. Everet was cut at every major joint. His arms were separated from his shoulders, his legs from the pelvis, his thigh from his knee, his forearm from the elbow, and so on and so forth down to his fingers and toes. The report showed that there was a high level of paralytics in his system. <em>So you make him sit there while you cut him apart. That’s why there are no defensive wounds. He had to lay there and endure all of that...</em></p><p>
  <em>Why was Everet presented like this while his wife was a simple throat slit?</em>
</p><p>	You made some notes in your book, making sure to write out questions to ask the team when you met up with them tomorrow. With every note you made, you found yourself going back to the case file and trying to connect dots. You soon realized that you couldn’t begin to connect those dots until you looked at the other files. </p><p>	Without much thinking, you opened all three files, quickly skimming over each of them and writing out the main points that stood out. You were supposed to be at Hannibal’s at 7 o’clock and it was only 5:45. It didn’t take <em>that</em> long to get to his place.</p><p>	All of the murders happened 2 weeks after the other, starting 5 and a half weeks ago. Dr. Everet was about 6 weeks ago, Dr. Chaseten was about 4 weeks ago, and Dr. Loriet was about 2 weeks ago. <em>Which means this killer is bound to strike again soon if this time frame is important to him.</em></p><p>	They all have at least one victim that is treated like a paralyzed piece of artwork like Dr.Everet and at least one victim thrown to the side and killed quickly. The ‘pieces of art’ were all doctors, the others were their husbands or wives.</p><p>They all were in different cities in Virginia but close enough to make a solid assumption that this is the same killer.</p><p>You were scribbling out a note to ask about if there were any particulates found in any of the bodies when your phone buzzed on the table next to you. You didn’t even look at the screen, you just hit the answer button and put whoever was calling on speakerphone.</p><p>“(Y/N) speaking.” </p><p>“Good evening, (Y/N).” The thickly accented voice rang through your speaker and stopped your writing mid-word as you looked from your phone to the files that were now spread out across your small tablespace.</p><p>“Dr. Lecter! Hi! Good evening! Sorry, I was um...  caught up in something and didn’t even register who was calling!”</p><p>“No need to apologize. I was just wondering if I should still expect you tonight?” You dropped your pen as you frantically looked at the time on your phone. It was 6:15PM. You quickly started to shut the files and stand up muttering a few curse words as you did. “I take it you got distracted?</p><p>“Yes! I’m sorry! But I am still coming over as long as the invitation is still good.” You picked up your phone and walked to your room to start to quickly figure out a nice outfit that didn’t look too much like a work outfit or too fancy. “I am getting ready now!”</p><p>“As I can hear.” You could almost hear the slight smirk he most likely had on his lips from hearing you fumble around your small space. <br/>“I should be there right around 7 and I’ll explain myself, I promise.” </p><p>“I will see you then, my dear.” Hannibal hung up while you were slinging your work shirt into your laundry bin. You couldn’t help the smile that spread as you thought about how he called you ‘my dear.’ You know it's probably nothing more than a common nickname for any woman in Hannibal’s life, but it still felt good to be called something other than your real name. </p><p>~~~~~~~~</p><p>	Somehow you had managed to avoid a lot of major traffic and pull up to Hannibal’s home right at 7 o’clock. He must have heard your engine or seen your headlights because as you got out of your car and made your way to his front door, it was already open with him waiting for you with a small smile on his lips. </p><p>	“Right on time.” </p><p>“Did you doubt me?”</p><p>“Never.” Hannibal moved to the side to let you in. You were instantly hit with the scents of whatever he was whipping up in his kitchen. </p><p>“One day you’ll have to teach me how to make something really fancy just so I can show off next time I have someone over.” You shrugged off your bag and went to hang it up in the closet, but Hannibal beat you to it.</p><p>	“Someone like a partner?” He was so good at hiding any sort of inflection in his voice, but you could have sworn that you detected a bit of jealousy. You slightly laughed at the idea of having any sort of romantic partner right now.</p><p>	“I was thinking more along the lines of my brother. You know I don’t have much of a social life outside work.</p><p>Hannibal motioned for you to walk towards the kitchen, you did so and he was right behind you. </p><p>This was normal for the two of you. You tried to have a meal or at least coffee together once or twice a week to give both of you a break from whatever the world was dishing out to you that week. You had met as colleagues when you worked together on a project for the FBI. But now you both were in a comfortable friendship. There was a pang in your heart that wanted to explore the idea of being more than friends or coworkers with him, but you doubted Hannibal felt the same. If he did, he wouldn’t show it due to his connection with your brother and out of respect for you. So the two of you continued this dance of being extremely friendly but too scared to make a move or speak up.</p><p>You poured yourself a glass of water and leaned against the kitchen counter as Hannibal reached into the refrigerator for lemon juice and finished up cooking. </p><p>“How was your day today?” You ask him, as you take a sip.</p><p>“It was alright. Met with patients, got further in a drawing, figured out what to cook for a beautiful lady as a congratulation of sorts.” Hannibal quickly looked up at you as he said the last half of that before turning to the stovetop. You felt a very small blush creep on your neck, but tried to play it cool. </p><p>“Congratulations?”</p><p>“On your new position. I hope you don’t mind that Will shared that with me today.”</p><p>“Did he now?” You couldn’t help the slight negativity in your voice as you looked away and played with your ring. “He is definitely not as happy for me as you are. I’m sure you’re aware that he did <em>not</em> want me to accept Jack’s offer.”</p><p>“I cannot tell what he said, but I can tell you that he was rather upset when he came in today.”</p><p>	“Sounds like my brother.” You took another drink of water, not even noticing that Hannibal had plated dinner until he spoke up.</p><p>	“Now, if you’d please.” You quickly looked up and saw that he was gesturing to the dining room. You tried to help by grabbing a plate or his cup or something to bring to the table but he just gently ushered you into the next room. He never let you help out when you were over as a dinner guest, but you tried every time. </p><p>	The two of you sat and began eating. It was a good minute or two of silence before someone spoke up. </p><p>	“This is delicious, Hannibal! I don’t know what vegetable <em>this</em> is exactly,” you help up a swirly looking green piece on your fork, “but it is amazing with this sauce you’ve made.”</p><p>	“That is romanesco broccoli. I thought you might like it. It looks intimidating but tastes like the typical broccoli that you normally eat. It's just a bit… Artistic.” He slightly smiled, happy that he could amuse you with new food. You took another bite as Hannibal reached for his wine. Before he took a sip, he asked something that had been on his mind.</p><p>“May I ask what grabbed your focus so much that you almost missed out on dinner tonight?”</p><p>“Oh, right! Jack apparently already has a killer he wants me to start profiling. He gave me copies of the reports to read up on before I have my first official day tomorrow. I told myself I was just going to read the first one, but then got carried away.”</p><p>“Is this the killer that has been targeting doctors?” You gave him a questioning look, unsure of how he knew about the case. “Jack asked for my opinion at the crime scene for Dr.Chaseten a few weeks ago. Considering they haven’t caught anyone, I’m assuming that is what he has you working on.”<br/>“Then you would be correct. There are now three mutilated doctors that have no obvious correlation to each other other than the cause of death and the fact that they are doctors.” You sipped your drink and continued. “I know I’ve only been Jack’s official profiler for less than a day, but it's still biting at me that I don’t see anything yet.”</p><p>Hannibal reached over and put a hand on yours to try to rein you back in before you thought too much about the case.</p><p>“I’m sure you will have more answers tomorrow.” You smiled and patted his hand, ignoring the slight butterflies you got from the contact. You took a deep breath.</p><p>“I know. I shouldn’t get this deep yet. That insanity will hit me tomorrow when I have to brainstorm with Jack.” You smiled even though it didn’t fully reach your eyes. You knew Hannibal would pick up on it. </p><p>“I think it was Oscar Levant that said that ‘there’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.’ Let’s just hope Jack Crawford won’t erase his line.” Hannibal gave your hand a small squeeze before removing his hand, causing you both to return your attention to your meal. </p><p>“You know, we could have rescheduled this dinner if you felt the need to finish your work.” Hannibal was sincere. He understood your work was a major part of your life, but he <em>did</em> like to see you outside the halls of the FBI.</p><p>“No! I wanted to come by tonight! Honestly, I needed a mood lifter after today.”</p><p>“Oh? How come?” You finished chewing and then spoke your mind. You knew Hannibal was a therapist, but he wasn’t <em>your</em> therapist. So you tried to keep it friendly.</p><p>“I should be excited and happy to be starting this new position, but I’m more worried about Will. I don’t want this job to be what divides us, you know? We’re so close, and I am one of the few people that he can be comfortable around. I don’t want to take that from him.” You pause, unconsciously bouncing your leg and fidgeting with your ring slightly. You shook your head as if that would temporarily erase the thought. “I just hope that if I keep working cases, he will get more and more okay with it.” You cut off a piece of fish and ate, letting Hannibal know that you were done speaking.</p><p>“I’m sure he will be fine.” You look up to find him staring at you. More like watching you, hyper-aware of your movements that show your anxiety. “But enough about Will.” Hannibal held up his glass towards you. “Here’s to you and your new path in the FBI. May they see you as valuable and wonderful as I do.” </p><p>You patted your lips with your napkin and smiled as you clinked your glass with his. Your heart swelled at his words. <em>Why do you do this to me? </em></p><p>The rest of the evening was spent finishing your meal and forcing Hannibal to let you help with the dishes. Afterward, he walked you to your car, as usual, opening the door for you like a true gentleman. </p><p>Your drive home was peaceful and you found yourself smiling, thankful for your evening with Hannibal. It was nice to know that <em>someone</em> you cared about was happy for you.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. "Under the Knife" - Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p><p>Author’s Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection. This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“As most of you know, this is (Y/N) Graham, she will be our profiler for this case.”</p><p>	“Oh good. Another Graham.” Beverly commented over her clipboard, writing down something involving the case probably. Jack gave her a chastising glance and she held her hands up in defense.</p><p>“(Y/N) this is Beverly Katz, Brian Zeller, and Jimmy Price.” Jack introduced you very quickly to the science-ier part of the team very quickly before jumping right into work. “So, tell us what you got so far, (Y/N).”</p><p>	You opened your small notebook and began summarizing your notes from last night’s reading.</p><p>	“Alright. So far I’ve been able to see three patterns: the ways they were killed, the time frame, and the fact that all of the victims that were dismembered were doctors. The strongest thing I can think of is that this killer was wronged by doctors in some way. I’m not sure if it's a doctor in the general term or if there is some specific way that ties these three doctors, and our killer, together. That was something I was going to work on today. </p><p>The way that the bodies are taken apart is very particular. From what I could tell from the photos in the files, all of the cuts seemed to be straight lines all the way through. Which means that this guy’s gotta have access not only to the <em>tools</em> that can do this sort of stuff, but also whatever drug he got in their system to make them lay still while he... <em>worked</em>. So I’m assuming the murder weapon is nothing with a jagged blade or saw-like teeth <em>until</em> we get to the bone. Do we have any reports on striation patterns or anything that could help us with what was used?”</p><p>“It’s like you said, the cuts were almost completely straight lines, even through to the bone. The only things we could think of were surgical tools.” Zeller spoke up. “The skin and muscles were cut similarly to how a surgeon would with a scalpel. But the bone is where it gets tricky. You can’t cut like this through bone with just a scalpel.”</p><p>“Unless you have <em>plenty</em> of time and you're <em>very</em> persistent.” Beverly joked; you were the only one that slightly exhaled a laugh through your nose at her quip.</p><p>	“Alright, so the killer has a medical background.” Jack tossed into the air. You nodded.</p><p>“<em>Possibly</em>. But why would a doctor be going after other doctors?”</p><p>“Maybe they’re taking all his patients?” Beverly shot out. You just nodded and looked back at your notes to see where you left off.</p><p>“The uh.. The most concerning thing is the time frame. They were all killed two weeks part from each other. Dr. Everet was almost 6 weeks ago, Dr. Chaseten almost 4, and Dr. Loriet about 2.” </p><p>“Which means we could have another dead doctor within the week.” Jack solemnly spoke as he realized the gravity of the situation. “Alright, you three keep looking over everything to see if we missed something. (Y/N), start working on possible correlations between the victims and the killer. Let’s get this son of a bitch.”</p><p>And that’s how the next two days went. Researching, thinking, and trying to get into a mindset that you weren’t totally sure of yet. </p><p>You had checked in with Will like you promised and said that you were fine but you were going to be very busy for at least the next few days. Hannibal had called you after your first day and could hear the slight exhaustion in your voice. He asked you to have lunch with him tomorrow and you very quickly agreed.</p><p>But the next day, you spent more time than you thought flipping through the databases to try to find any correlation between Everet, Chasten, and Loriet. The three of them never worked in the same hospital, clinic, or even the same city. Their wives didn’t know each other. Their neighbors didn’t know each other. They didn’t have any sort of communication with each other. They were all different types of doctors. Everet and Loriet went to the same med school, but they graduated 3 years apart.</p><p>
  <em>So what the fuck am I missing?</em>
</p><p>You kept looking back over the crime scene photos. You couldn’t understand why the doctors were mutilated and positioned so intricately, but the others were cast aside. <em>The focus <strong>has</strong> to be on the doctors. They must have done something to ‘wrong’ the killer. So what the hell did all three of you do to make someone want to murder? </em></p><p>Your train of thought was interrupted by a knock at your office door. You let out a slightly aggravated sigh.</p><p>“Jack, I told you I will let you know when I-- Oh! Hannibal! Hi!” You looked up from your computer screen to find Hannibal standing in the doorway with a bag in his hand. </p><p>“Should I come back later?” </p><p>“No! No. Come on in. I probably should take a break. I feel like I’m going in circles anyways.” You looked at your watch and saw it was almost 3:30 PM. The last time you looked at the clock, it was 10:30 AM. “And I missed our lunch meeting.” You put your head in your hands and groaned in annoyance with yourself. “I am so sorry, Hannibal. I--”</p><p>“No need for apologies, my dear. I figured Jack had put a lot on your plate, so I thought I would bring lunch to you.” Hannibal made his way into your office and shut the door behind him. </p><p>“You really didn’t have to.”</p><p>“When was the last time you ate, (Y/N)?” Hannibal questioned you, looking you dead in the eye after he sat down in one of your office chairs. </p><p>You weren’t entirely sure. You started to speak but then stopped yourself, really trying to remember when you ate last. <em>I know I had ½ of my breakfast at 7:30 this morning. Did I have my granola bar? Does coffee count as a meal?</em></p><p>“The fact that you have to <em>think</em> about when your last meal was, is a bit concerning. But nonetheless, I am more than happy to remedy that. ” He smiled one of his rare but small smiles and began unpacking whatever culinary art he brought. You tried to condense some of your piles of papers and folders so you had enough room to put food down. </p><p>Hannibal had brought a home-cooked meal for the two of you to enjoy. A ginger salad with fresh pan-seared scallops and even some infused water that he had marinating in his fridge overnight. This was <em>so</em> much better than the PB&amp;J you had packed. </p><p>As you began to dig in, Hannibal couldn’t help but look at some of the crime scene photos and your notes. </p><p>“So what are we calling this killer?” </p><p>“‘<em>The Virginia Scalpel</em>.’” You said with slight annoyance. “He has a medical background and is within a reasonable distance from all of the vics. Yet, we have no idea who he is.”</p><p>“Does the killer <em>have</em> to be a medical professional? Maybe they just have very steady hands.” </p><p>“True. But there is almost no way that a regular guy could cut through muscle and bone <em>that</em> cleanly without surgical tools <em>or</em> the knowledge of how to use them. Not to mention the fact that he would have some <em>serious</em> explaining to do on how he got the succinylcholine or whatever paralyzer he plans to use next.” You rub your eyes gently, feeling the strain from the computer screen hitting you. Hannibal could feel the stress radiating off of you. </p><p>“Do you <em>want</em> to talk about this case?”</p><p>“Not really. But I’m not sure what else to talk about. This has been my life for the last 3 days, the killer could strike again any day now, and I still don’t know why these three doctors were targeted or who will be next!” </p><p>You started to fidget with your ring unconsciously and a bit aggressively, a sign to Hannibal that your anxiety was starting to catch up. Despite the physical signs that you needed a break, you continued to glance over an open file near you while you took another bite of food. He leaned forward in his seat a bit as he closed the file that you had been rereading for what he assumed to be at least the tenth time. </p><p>“(Y/N), you need to breathe.” You just nodded and closed your eyes to try to help your deep breaths relax you faster. “How about we go for a walk? Get the blood flowing.”</p><p>“I would love to. But I feel like I can’t afford that break right now.” You shook your head slightly as you reached down for a stack of papers you had bundled and put on the floor earlier. You didn’t see him get up, but Hannibal was standing, adjusting his jacket before holding a hand out to you.</p><p>“What’s the worst that could happen?” You looked from his hand to his face before standing up, shrugging. <em>A small walk around the building wouldn’t hurt, right?</em></p><p>Before your hand could land in his, your phone rang and you felt your heart sink, dreading what could be waiting for you on the other end of the line. Both you and Hannibal looked down at your phone and saw the caller ID: “Jack Crawford.” You took a deep inhale and hit the answer button.</p><p>“I <em>really</em> hope you’re calling just to bug me to work faster, Jack…” You tried your best to control your voice. You looked up and Hannibal was watching, trying to listen in and gauge how you were going to react.</p><p>“Afraid not. There’s another Scalpel vic. I’m texting you the address. Drop whatever you're doing and get down here.” Jack hung up before you could say anything, leaving you in a bit of shock. </p><p>
  <em>Dammit! What the hell am I missing?! Someone else is dead--Another doctor is dead because I don’t have any answers yet. How can--</em>
</p><p>“(Y/N)?” Hannibal’s hand on your arm broke your stream of internal chastising before it could get too bad, but you did unintentionally jump at the contact. He instantly raised his hands up and let you process for a moment. “There’s another one, isn’t there?”</p><p>You just nod. A second later, your phone flashed a message from Jack with an address. </p><p>“Guess my ‘walk’ is going to be to a crime scene.” You try to joke despite feeling a tinge of guilt spreading through you. Hannibal tried to walk you to your car but you kindly denied him. You wanted to be alone as you prepared yourself for your first real crime scene.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. "Under the Knife" - Part 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p><p>Author’s Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.<br/>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>No matter how many times you looked at crime scene photos or had to visualize how the killers from the Evil Minds Research Museum had done their work, you were not fully ready to be completely immersed in an active crime scene. </p><p>	You were inside another upper-class house in Lorton, Virginia. Everything seemed normal on the outside, until you got past the familiar yellow tape. You were escorted in by Jack. As you walked through the front door, Jack motioned to the right. </p><p>	“Mindy Pencalt’s sister called local police and said that she was worried about Mindi. They have weekly video calls and Mrs. Pencalt didn’t respond for two days, which apparently was very abnormal. Uni’s came in and saw her on the kitchen floor, then called in for backup.” </p><p>You walked over, putting on gloves as you got closer. You brushed some hair away from Mindi’s neck. You saw the blood down her front, but you really got a good look at the slice that spanned across most of her neck. You spoke out loud as you inspected the victim, mostly to get confirmation from Jack that you were right.</p><p>“This was a quick kill. Sliced neck, just like half of the other victims. No other obvious wounds or marks other than a gash on her forehead that seems to have happened right around time of death. Which means she didn’t-or <em>couldn’t</em> put up much of a fight.” You stood up as you began to see the scene in your mind as it happened. You walked slightly behind where Mindi was laying on the ground. “Most likely from the killer coming up and shoving her head into this set of cabinets before taking his weapon and cutting into her neck from behind.” </p><p>After you had acted out bashing an invisible victim into the overhead cabinets and then taking an invisible knife and dragging it across the same invisible victim, you stopped and looked again at the sliver in her neck.</p><p>“The cut starts a few inches below Mrs. Pencalt’s right ear, drags through and across her sternohyoid muscle and stops an inch or so to the left. Leaving her to bleed out at a decent pace. The length of the cut and where it starts and ends indicates that the killer is left-handed.”  </p><p>You were looking at the cut on her neck when another thought popped into your mind. Without breaking your gaze from her neck, you held out your open hand towards Jack. </p><p>“Swab, please.” There was some shuffling behind you and not even 20 seconds later, you felt the small familiar shape of a long cotton swab. You gently use your gloved hand and the swab to open the wound slightly. You made a confirming noise to yourself and spoke out loud as you reached your hand out for a disposal bag from whoever gave you the swab.</p><p>“The slit is at more of an upward angle. Which means that he is taller than Mrs. Pencalt, who is... how tall?” You ask over your shoulder, still not looking away from the corpse in front of you. </p><p>You could hear Jack flip through his notepad for a few seconds before responding with “5’7”. You just nodded, trying to visualize the killer in your mind. As of right now, it was just a shaded outline of a man. Now you had some sort of height to work with though, but you still didn’t have any major identifying markers yet.</p><p>“I would estimate our killer is somewhere between 5’10” and 6’ tall. Which makes him almost painfully average.” </p><p>You looked around Mindi’s body once more to see if there was anything else that really stuck out to you. Any sort of signature left behind on any surface, a stray hair or thread from a shirt being snagged. But you found <em>nothing</em>. You mimed the movements the killer would have made to really see the picture and try to get more into his head. Physically being at the crime scene did so much more than just looking at pictures and notes.</p><p>“After the trash is taken care of, he moves on to find and set up his <em>mise-en-scène</em>.” </p><p>You turn to go through the only hallway visible, finally looking up. You were expecting to just meet an accepting or objecting Crawford, but instead was greeted not only to an accepting Jack, but also a somewhat surprised Hannibal. He knew you were brilliant, but he had never had the chance to see you really work. </p><p>“<em>Oh!</em> I wasn’t aware that Dr. Lecter was going to be joining us.” You were really thrown off your rhythm for a minute. Jack nodded before turning and heading down the hallway to what you were sure was a dismembered doctor.</p><p>“When you are done, meet me down here. First door on the right.” </p><p>You were left with Hannibal in a slightly awkward position. Looking around at the floor, you tried your best to gracefully get away from the victim and closer to where Hannibal stood without messing up the crime scene. He offered a guiding hand to help to which you gladly accepted. Once you had your feet planted, you decided to speak up and try to dispel as much of the weirdness you felt as you could.</p><p>“I um-- I would have offered to drive us both if I’d have known you were coming. I thought you said that you only consulted on <em>one</em> part of this case.”</p><p>“Originally, yes, it was just the one. But Jack asked me to tag along, as back up. He wants to make sure he made a good choice in recruiting you. And having never had the privilege to see you work like this before, I felt the urge to agree even more so.” </p><p>You could feel like there was something off or something else he wasn’t sharing, so you just raised your eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue. He took a slightly large inhale before changing to a more cautious tone of voice. </p><p>“I also agreed because Will and I thought it would be safest if I followed this case as well.” </p><p>Your mood went from confused and unsure to upset and slightly betrayed very quickly once Hannibal’s reasoning settled in your brain. You tried your best to stay cool, but you couldn’t help the frustration that slightly morphed your voice. </p><p>“So this is Will’s way of <em>babysitting</em> me, is it? He-- No. <em>Both</em> of you are so sure that something is going to happen that you felt the need to put yourself on this case?” </p><p>“This is just a precaution and to try and help Will feel a bit better about the situation.” </p><p>“I--.” </p><p>Before either of you could continue, Jack’s voice rang from the next room over.</p><p>“<em>Lecter! Graham!</em> Get in here! We don’t have all night!” </p><p>You took a deep breath, trying to sort out the clusterfuck of emotions in your head. You opened your eyes and diverted all attention to walking away from Hannibal and ignoring the situation. Before you could take a full step, Hannibal tried to speak. </p><p>“(Y/N)--”</p><p>You just paused and held your hand up to stop him.</p><p>“I’m sorry but I <em>really</em> do not want to talk to you about <em>any</em> of this right now. I just want to go in there, get some initial findings, and go home.” You couldn’t fully see it, but Hannibal nodded his head in understanding and extended his arm in the direction of the next room. You muttered a small “thank you” before continuing towards where Jack called out for you.</p><p>You would deal with all of this later. For now, you needed to be able to look at this scene and try to find anything that could save whoever this creep had in mind next. <br/>Walking into the room, you saw the various markers and teams working on collecting evidence and taking pictures. Jack was right by the door to greet you into your first macabre serial killer scene.</p><p>“Give us the room.” Jack ordered and everyone got to the end of whatever they were doing and filed out, giving you, Jack, and Hannibal the room to yourselves. Now you could get a better visual of just what you were dealing with. </p><p>“Do you want to know what we have so far, or do you want to just do your thing?” Jack watched you as you couldn’t bring yourself to look away from the scene in front of you. All you could do was shake your head ‘no’ as you worked your hands into a fresh pair of gloves, which was enough of an answer for Jack.</p><p>“The floor is yours, (Y/N) and Dr. Lecter.” </p><p>With Jack’s previous experience with your brother, he had learned to just let your brain work and then talk later. But Hannibal had never seen this side of you, so he observed with immense curiosity as to what you pick up on and the connections you make. </p><p>“I would rather (Y/N) take over. This <em>is</em> her case. I am just here for support.” Hannibal said somewhat softly, seeing that you were trying to slip into the same mindset as he had witnessed earlier with Mrs. Pencalt.</p><p>You tried to just breathe through the resentment you were feeling as you straightened your shoulders and stepped through the doorway of the room, slowly making yourself forget that they were there, focusing on how your killer would have done all of this.</p><p>You could assume this was Dr. Pencalt and Mrs. Pencalt shared bedroom from the general layout of the home, or the fact that Dr. Pencalt was laid out in the middle of a king sized bed. </p><p>As you stepped closer and closer, you were able to see those clean cut lines that you’d come to know very well by now. His body looked slightly elongated due to the fact that he, like the previous Scalpel victims, was dissected at every major joint. Each part of him had an inch or so gap between each other. </p><p>Making your way around the bed, you found the door to the attached master bathroom open and the light on, a trail of blood connecting the bed to the bathroom. When you peeked inside, the once pristinely gray floor tiles now had a layer of red over them and thick blood stuck in the grout. You nodded as you committed that room to memory and walked back to the bed.</p><p>You carefully tilt Dr. Pelcant’s head to the side to try and find a small hole in where a syringe would have gone, figuring it would be somewhere in his neck. You couldn’t find anything with just your naked eye. </p><p>“We’ll have to see if Beverly or Zeller can find the injection point. If we can see any sort of angle to it, that could help narrow down our killer’s height.”</p><p>Jack wrote that down in his notes as you took a step back from the body and scanned the whole room again. Your gut was saying that you just needed to keep looking. Hannibal and Crawford watched you, waiting to see if you had anything else to add. Hannibal saw that you were slightly troubled by something.</p><p>“Something wrong, (Y/N)?"</p><p>"Something about all of this is off."</p><p>“What is it?" Jack butt in, a slight shift in his tone making you a little more frustrated at yourself for not seeing it yet.</p><p>"I'm not sure. It’s just-- This set up- This doesn't <em>feel</em> like the others. Not entirely."</p><p>"Could it be because these are not photographs, like how you're used to seeing?" You know Hannibal didn’t mean to sound condescending in any way, but with your bitter bias towards him right now, it definitely felt it. Still, you didn’t look away from the bed.</p><p>"No. I know it's not that."</p><p>You couldn’t tell exactly what Jack and Hannibal were discussing behind you but you didn’t really care; Everything had started to muffle as you focused more and more on the display in front of you. </p><p>	<em>My eyes and gut keep bringing me here. <strong>This</strong> is it. Something isn’t right <strong>here</strong>. But what the hell is it? The body is cut up in the same way as the other doctors. The only slightly weird thing is that the eyes are left open on this vic. Everything is so neat and tidy, why can’t I tell what is wrong?</em></p><p>	Then it hit you. That’s what is wrong: Things were neat. More specifically, the bedsheets.</p><p>"The sheets." You felt the words slip out of your mouth as your brain was still going, now picking up on how this bedroom looked like a picture from a <em>Better Homes &amp; Gardens</em> magazine, just with a dead body laying in the bed instead of a photogenic couple or dog or something.</p><p>“(Y/N), I really don't think their choice in bedding lead to their--"</p><p>"Shh! Shut up for a second! Just-- Everyone shut up!" You waved your hand at Crawford to try to quiet him quicker. Jack was about to reprimand you, but Hannibal held up a hand to him, letting him know that you were on to something. You did a full circle around the room before landing back on the sheets. </p><p>“The sheets are <em>flat</em>.” You said aloud, moreso to yourself than to the other two off to the side. You then looked directly at Jack, not giving Hannibal any attention, knowing that would bring your personal life back up and derail the potentially good track you were on.</p><p>“There are only two victims in this household, correct?” You spoke while following the blood drip stains from the edges of the bed to the pool on the floor to the trail that led to the bathroom.</p><p>“Yes.” Crawford responded, slightly judgmental.</p><p>“And we’re sure about that?”</p><p>“Positive. I looked in every room in this house <em>myself</em> before you two got here.” You just nodded, your eyes finding their way to the bathroom and the seemingly odd pool of blood in there.</p><p>“Were there any weapons found in the bathroom?” Both men were a bit confused at the sudden change of topic, but continued anyway.</p><p>“Not that I’m aware of.”</p><p>“How well did the crime scene interns look though?”</p><p>“What exactly are you insinuating, (Y/N)?” You could tell that Jack wasn’t a fan of you talking like that, but you had your reasons. </p><p>“Either we have a mysterious third victim that was killed in the bathroom and then vanished, or this is one of those cases where the evidence collecting teams didn’t search thoroughly enough and missed out on a piece of evidence.” Jack waved his hand, motioning for you to keep talking. </p><p>“Taking into account that there is only <em>one</em> trail of blood that leads between these two <em>pools</em> of blood, there are <em>in fact</em> only <em>two</em> victims in this house. So what I am <em>insinuating</em> is that your collection team missed something.” You turned back to the corpse in the bed and went on to explain yourself further, physically taking the steps that the vic would have taken in this likely scenario. </p><p>“Dr. Pencalt was relaxing in bed when he heard commotion in the kitchen. Instead of jumping out of bed and going to check it out with no weapon, he rushed to his bathroom to search for something to defend himself with.” </p><p>You quickly scanned over the bathroom, your eyes finally landing on exactly what you were looking for: the toilet. You gently hopped over the blood that had stuck to the tiles and got to the toilet. You lifted up the lid to the tank and reached in. You turned back to the men as you got the new piece of evidence out safely.</p><p>“One of the most common places that civilians hide their guns or valuables are in airtight baggies, in the tanks of their toilets.”</p><p>Jack gave you a slightly annoyed look before calling for an evidence bag and handing it to you. You sealed up the gun and hopped back to the main bedroom, Hannibal making sure to help steady you as you landed. Once you were on solid ground again, he respectfully backed away. You gave the gun to Jack, turned around to face the bathroom, and continued your assessment.</p><p>“So, like I said, he goes to his bathroom to try to get his gun to defend himself against whatever he thinks is in his kitchen <em>other than</em> his wife. He gets into the bathroom but then is stopped before he can make it to the toilet or his gun. Here, he is injected with whatever insanely fast paralytic drug our killer decided to use tonight, and falls to the ground, where the killer decides to chop him up.” You walked parallel to the trail of blood leading back to the bed. “And then place him here.”</p><p>You could feel yourself slowly losing your grip on your mind due to exhaustion. You took your gloves off and ran your hands over your face. </p><p>“I need to get some air. I did all I can here. I need to write some stuff out and then I can get back at this tomorrow when I have some more forensic evidence to work off of.” You were about to leave the room when Jack called out.</p><p>“No.” You stopped and faced him to see if he was serious. His face was stone. “Write out what you need to. Then I want you and <em>you</em>, Dr. Lecter, to report back to my office in an hour. I need a list of suspects, a good motive, or <em>something</em> out of this case, <em>tonight</em>.”</p><p>You knew you couldn’t do or say anything to change Jack’s mind without possibly getting yourself taken off the case. So you just took a deep breath and nodded, making your way out of the bedroom. Hannibal just nodded his head as well and followed you out.</p><p>You heard the soft but quick steps of Hannibal’s nice shoes catch up to you as you reached your car. You didn’t want to talk to him, not sure of what you would even say now that you felt almost completely drained. </p><p>“Hannibal, I <em>really</em> don't--”</p><p>“I know.” </p><p>You were slightly taken aback at his interruption. He leaned slightly towards you and opened your car door. You then realized that he only wanted to make sure you got to your car safe, as he <em>always</em> did when he was with you. You felt slightly guilty, but tried to not think about it too much as he waited until you had your seat belt on to shut the door. Letting you drive off; Leaving you alone in your car to try to prepare for this undoubtedly intense brainstorming in an hour.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Part 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.</p>
<p>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.</p>
<p>This is beta-read by a friend of mine, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As much as you didn’t want to have this meeting with Crawford, you knew that you had to. You had to fill in not only Jack but Hannibal as well on where you were when it came to motive, suspects, and connections. The car ride back to the office was silent as you struggled to focus on case-related thoughts as opposed to the fact that your brother and Hannibal thought you needed backup. </p>
<p>It wasn’t until you parked in your normal spot at headquarters that you felt yourself slip. </p>
<p>
  <em>Do they really not believe in me that much? Will, I can understand. He was wary about me joining from the start. But Hannibal? He was so supportive at dinner. He said that I was ‘wonderful and valuable.’ Why would he say that if he was just going to be watching over me and double-checking my work? I--</em>
</p>
<p>While Will seemed to not let his emotions come up often, you were the opposite. You were very empathetic and even though you had spent many years working on getting a better handle on them, you couldn’t help with your emotions got the best of you.</p>
<p>You managed to make it to your office before the angry tears started to spill. </p>
<p>There were two soft knocks on your office door. You quickly scrambled to wipe your face with the inside of your shirt and grab a few papers that you planned on showing Jack in an effort to look okay. </p>
<p>“Come on in.” You spoke just loud enough to be heard through the door, hoping it was just a student or delivery and wouldn’t have to turn around and face them. You heard the door slowly creak open a little, Hannibal peeked in.</p>
<p>“Everything alright, (Y/N)?” You let out a single harsh exhale in disbelief.  You kept your back facing him as you picked up a few more relevant papers to add to the growing pile in your arm.</p>
<p>“As alright as they can be.” You cursed internally as you felt the shakiness in your voice betray you. A normal person wouldn’t pick up on it, but you were sure Hannibal had.</p>
<p>“I understand you may not want to talk about this, but I think--” You quickly turn around and cut off what he is saying, really not in the mood to hear whatever explanation he has right now for his and Will’s behavior.</p>
<p>“I think Crawford is waiting for us. I would like to get this meeting over with and then go home so I can have an actual meal today. So how about we start moving?” You were sure he noticed the extreme lack of eye contact and the stuffiness in your nose making your voice slightly nasal. You were ready for him to ask about your wellbeing again.</p>
<p>Instead, you saw him nod once and held out his hands. </p>
<p>“Well then, let's not keep him waiting. May I?” You gladly handed your stack of papers over to him while you picked out one more file and unhooked your bag from the back of your desk chair, in hopes that you could leave right after this session with Crawford. </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>“So what we have so far is that Dr. Pencalt was a neurologist with no obvious ties to Dr. Everet, Chasten, or Loreit other than the fact that they all live relatively close to one another. We also now have a potential height range and the small detail that he is left-handed.”</p>
<p>Hannibal hadn’t even shut the door to Jack’s office behind the two of you yet before Jack started talking. He wasn’t even facing you two, instead, he was looking at the board of evidence that now had a few pictures of tonight’s scene on it. Hannibal placed your papers on the desk in front of you as you made your way to a seat. You felt yourself zoning out because of how tired you were. Not only from the lack of sleep, but now your eyes were slightly stinging thanks to the tears that had slipped in your office moments ago. </p>
<p>While you knew what Jack was saying, you felt yourself zoning out. It wasn’t new information and you were so spent. You hadn’t realized <em>how far</em> into your mind you were drifting until you felt a shoe tap against yours, jolting you back into reality. Hannibal had seen the minuscule fade in your eyes as you stared at the stack of papers. He knew Jack wouldn’t handle it well, so he did his best to help.</p>
<p>You tuned back in as Jack started to turn to now face you two. </p>
<p>"Dr. Lecter, do you think that this killer sees the spouses as nothing special, or are we missing something involving them?"</p>
<p>"I believe they were merely obstacles that our killer has to get through. (Y/N) said it best. These spouses are nothing more than 'trash that is taken care of.'"</p>
<p>You hated to admit that it hurt that Jack had to verify with Dr. Lecter on your findings. But it was a bit nice to know that Hannibal was on your side despite what your brain was telling you back in your office. </p>
<p>Jack then looked to you, his face not showing the indignation you were sure was bubbling inside him.</p>
<p>“What else you got?”</p>
<p>Slightly rubbing a bit of pain from your eyes, you looked in your notebook, trying to figure out what else to say. You saw a scribble and then reached to your pile of papers on Jack’s desk to try to find the specific ones you were looking for. </p>
<p>“Well, I started to go through and find all of the doctors that work in <em>any</em> medical field within a 50-mile radius. I then tried to narrow it down by eliminating all of the females.”</p>
<p>“Why disregard females?”</p>
<p>“Because unless one of these female doctors is Wonder Woman, I don’t think any of them would be able to <em>physically</em> disable men like Dr. Chasten, who was a rather large man, by themselves.” Jack just nods his head in agreement and you keep your slowly derailing train of thought going.</p>
<p>“I uh-- I haven’t been able to do anything else with this list because we only just found this dominant hand and a good height range an hour ago. And I’ll be able to narrow down that height range, even more, when I get the angle of the incision point back from Beverly or Jimmy. But it's at least a start to what we’re looking for. ” </p>
<p>You look up from your suspect list as you slide it to Jack on the other side of the desk, only to find looking at you, expecting more. Reaching for your notebook, you fumble through your scrawlings again, trying to find any information that would please him. Hannibal watched your interaction and decided to step in.</p>
<p>“May I ask something?” </p>
<p>“As long as it's not about my personal life.” You still had your eyes scanning your notebook as you responded. </p>
<p>“It isn’t.” You look up from your notes, see that he is serious, and nod for him to continue. “Why did the bedding stand out to you, (Y/N)?”</p>
<p>“Hmm?”</p>
<p>“At the crime scene, you said that ‘the sheets are flat.’ What significance does that have?”</p>
<p>“Right. Um… Because it's odd.” Jack confusingly looks from you to Hannibal, who is his normal stoic self but still curious. You see that the two men don’t see what you do, so you pull out the crime scene photos from all of the cases that show the dead doctors in their beds.</p>
<p>“Because the killer fixed them before meticulously placing the various parts of Dr. Pencalt out. He didn’t do that for any of the other ones. And, I also noticed that Dr.Pencalt’s eyes were left open, unlike the others who have their’s closed. It's the first time we’ve seen either of these things.”</p>
<p>“It is also the first time he’s killed in one room, then moved the victim to the bed.” Hannibal chimed in.</p>
<p>“Yes! Exactly. <em>But</em>, the bed still would have been messy from Dr. Pencalt’s rushed exit to the bathroom to try and get his gun. Which means that our killer wanted this ‘<em>sculpture</em>’ of his to be nicer looking than his previous ones.” </p>
<p>“Why?” Crawford could see what you were saying, be he needed more.</p>
<p> “I-I’m not sure yet.” </p>
<p>You looked down at your notebook in slight shame. So when Jack raised his voice and hit his hand on his desk in frustration, you couldn’t help but jump in your seat a bit, causing Hannibal to stiffen slightly. He had a watchful eye on you as he let Jack speak.</p>
<p>“Dammit, (Y/N)! This is <em>why</em> I brought you on. You’re supposed to be able to get inside this maniac’s brain and <em>lead us to him</em>. You’re implying that our killer <em>gift-wrapped</em> a victim at a scene that we have seen now <em>four</em> different times. So I’m gonna ask again: <em>Why</em> is this one so special?”</p>
<p> “May--Maybe he has some sort of <em>emotional</em> attachment to this vic. O-or maybe this is about his <em>ego</em> and he knows we were now taking this- <em>him</em> seriously. So he wanted to show us a new mosaic that he was <em>proud</em> of, like a child showing their parents a shitty piece of macaroni art that they think is a masterpiece. Or maybe it’s <em>none</em> of these ideas and it’s something <em>completely</em> out of left field that I haven’t figured out. The point is: I don’t <em>know yet</em>, Jack!” </p>
<p>You didn’t expect yourself to burst like that. But the mix of your personal feelings about Hannibal and your brother, your lack of rest, and Crawford’s accusatory tone had set you off. You focused on fiddling with your ring to try to reign yourself back in and attempt to clock out for the night.</p>
<p>While you tried to breathe for a few seconds, the men just stared. Hannibal was observing you, making sure you were okay enough that he wouldn’t have to physically assist you. Jack on the other hand was silent out of surprise. The two of them had seen Will at his most stressed, but they’d never seen <em>you</em> like this. Jack wasn’t sure how to proceed until you spoke again, much calmer and quieter than a moment ago.</p>
<p>“I need more <em>evidence</em>. We can sit here and spout out theories all night. But without details from whatever the techs got tonight, nothing can stick. So when the gang in the lab has results of any kind or we get more information from the autopsies, <em>then</em> I can reexamine everything I have and get a better idea of what the hell we’re looking for. For now, I’m exhausted, I’m hungry, and need a shower.”</p>
<p>“Are you quitting this case?” Your gaze shot from your hands in front of you to Crawford’s incredulous face; Now worried that he thought you were unfit for this job.</p>
<p>“<em>No</em>. Absolutely not. I <em>want</em> this asshole caught. I-- I just need to rest. I’ve been going almost non-stop since I signed those papers and took the files home. Hannibal can even vouch for me that I was immediately engrossed in this case the moment I got home. I promise that I will be more productive when I can get a sandwich and a few hours of sleep in me.”</p>
<p>You tried to keep your features calm, but you couldn’t help the slight sound of pleading in your voice. You knew you were right and that you just needed a small break. You felt the small sting of disheartened tears fighting their way back into your already sore eyes, hoping that Hannibal didn’t pick up on them. Jack looked to Hannibal for confirmation, getting a silent nod from him. Crawford slowly nodded his head in understanding.</p>
<p>“You’re right. Go home. We will pick this up tomorrow.” </p>
<p>He motioned to the door. You thanked him and tried to stand up and calmly walk out without showing that one of those irritating tears had slid down your cheek as you turned away from Jack. Hannibal had gotten up and opened the door for you, but before you could pass through the threshold, Jack spoke up. </p>
<p>“If you <em>do</em> think of anything, write it down and tell me first thing tomorrow.” You just nod and continue out the door, trying to make it to your car before you let yourself cry anymore. Hannibal was going to follow and ensure your safety as he usually did, but Jack stopped him.</p>
<p>“Not you, Dr. Lecter. I need to speak with you about a few things in private. Shouldn’t take long.” Hannibal nodded as he saw you quickly turn the corner towards the elevators. He shut the door and settled back in his seat at Crawford’s desk.</p>
<p>“I take it (Y/N) didn’t like the idea of you being on this case now too?”</p>
<p>“No. I suspect she thinks that Will and I don’t believe in her ability to handle this intense of a case as well as keep herself afloat. I’ve tried to get her to open up about it, but I fear that it may be too soon to bring it up.”</p>
<p>“Do you think she will be able to stay afloat?”</p>
<p>“I do. (Y/N) is a brilliant individual who’s empathic intuitions match those of her brother. That in addition to her curiosity for the abnormal, and desire for justice make her an ideal candidate for this position. However, I believe that she needs time to process everything that has happened over the course of her first 3 days here. She has only dealt with high-profile cases like this one <em>after</em> they have been solved. She’s never been in an <em>active</em> case of this caliber. She is bound to get overwhelmed and think that she isn’t good enough during this first week. I suspect that she will bounce back soon enough.”</p>
<p>Jack wasn’t sure <em>what</em> exactly he was trying to ask, but Hannibal saw the look of confusion on his face and continued.</p>
<p>“(Y/N) thinks that because she hasn’t found anything substantial yet and another body has been found, that she is not good at what she does. When in reality, she is right, we are at a standstill until we get more evidence.” </p>
<p>At first Crawford wasn’t sure about having Hannibal ride in the backseat through this case. But now he was thankful. Through Hannibal’s understanding of your life outside of the FBI, he was able to remind Jack that you were human and could only do so much without a breather. Something he had failed to remember with Will at times..<br/>Jack stood up and got his jacket that was hanging on the back of his desk chair, stretching a bit as he stood up. Hannibal stood as well, anticipating a dismissal.</p>
<p>“I see. Well, I think we should follow (Y/N)’s example and take the rest of the night to let things settle in. Start fresh tomorrow morning. Our’s killer’s timer is reset; We got less than two weeks to catch this lunatic.” </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>You were more than glad to get your keys in your door and finally be able to let your guard down. Your stomach growled as you turned the handle, thinking about the leftover pizza you had in your fridge. Before you could step too far into your apartment, you felt your shoe shift as you stepped on a piece of paper. You thought nothing of it, assuming it was a paper from one of your files that had fallen out, and plopped it on your counter, too focused on getting food heated up and getting out of your work clothes to read over it right now. </p>
<p>After a quick shower to get the grime of today off of you, you popped some pizza in the microwave and got dressed in your pajamas. As you took the plate out, your eyes settled on the piece of paper that was on the counter. You set down your dinner and walked over to pick it up. One side was blank but the other was a printed out screenshot of an article from the awful tabloid, Tattle Crime. </p>
<p>
  <strong>“The Virginia Scalpel Strikes Again! - A Deeper Look into the Work of a Killer and the Minds that the FBI Hired to Help Find Him.”</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>“Why were Dr. Pencalt and his wife targeted by the Scalpel? We still don’t know his motive, but the FBI brought on another member to their team in order to try and help answer some of our dying questions. (Y/N) Graham works within the Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI, but has never worked an active major case before this one. Which may be why we also saw Dr. Hannibal Lecter at the crime scene. We believe that she is shadowing him, learning how to run with the big dogs. The duo could be an almost unstoppable psychological force in the utility belt of Jack Crawford.</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>Much like her brother Will Graham, who we have talked about on this site before--”</strong>
</p>
<p>You rolled your eyes and let out an annoyed sigh, not believing the shit you were seeing right now. Not only did Freddie just do the <em>basic</em> research on Dr. Pencalt that anyone could do from a simple google search, but then she had the gall to try to discredit your position on the team. All because she was new and Hannibal was at the crime scene with you.</p>
<p>You couldn’t read another demeaning word tonight. </p>
<p>
  <em>I was <strong>shadowing</strong> Hannibal?! That’s some misogynistic crap! I don’t even want to know what she has to say when it comes to comparing me to Will. This is a new low for Hannibal or Will. Going to a TC article as a fear tactic to try to get me to resign? Not today, boys. </em>
</p>
<p>You were going to text them and call them out on their bullshit, but decided against it; not having the energy to deal with any more human interaction unless it was absolutely necessary. So you shoved the print-out into your work notebook and tossed it back in your work back, ignoring it until tomorrow.</p>
<p>For now? Pizza, wine, and a good comedy special were calling your name.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. "Under the Knife" - Part 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.<br/>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.<br/>This is beta-read by a good friend of mine, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last few days were weird for you. While working the Virginia Scalpel case, you still had to give lectures and work the occasional museum shift. Luckily you were able to give more and more of your museum shifts to your coworkers, saying that you needed the time to focus on the case or to finalize your lecture outlines. </p><p>Between two lectures and a museum shift, you were able to narrow down your suspect list even more. Pulling every male doctor within a 50-mile radius who fit the height range and who wasn’t super young, old, or generally weak looking. You dropped it off to Jack’s office while he was in a meeting of some sort, thankful that you wouldn’t have to talk to him just yet.</p><p>After that night at the Pencalt crime scene, things seemed to take more energy than you expected. You could get up and function through your workday, but when it came to socializing or even having to have work-related conversations, you found yourself doing them through email or not at all. This included talking to Hannibal or Will.</p><p>Both of them had tried calling or texting you, and you’d try to respond with a “Can’t talk right now,” or an “I’m busy.” But sometimes you didn’t have the energy and straight-up ignored them. </p><p>You knew <em>what</em> they wanted to talk about. And you had to admit that after letting it settle in your brain, you wanted to too. But you knew that <em>that</em> conversation would be a long one that required patience.</p><p>Which is why you decided to call in sick and work from home today. You weren’t scheduled a lecture or a museum shift, and everything you planned on doing in your office could be done at home. </p><p>You understood the urgency of this case. The team only had about a week left to catch this guy before another doctor would be found in pieces. But you weren’t the only one working this case, and you were still waiting on results from Beverly, Price, and Zeller. So you justified taking today a bit slower and tried to fit in some breaks for self-care as you worked.</p><p>The day started out with a peaceful breakfast, something you hadn’t had since <em>before</em> you joined Jack’s team. It was different and odd feeling now, but you tried your best to enjoy it and let your mind relax. After you put your stuff in the dishwasher, you sat down where your work stuff was set up at your dining room table, and felt your mind wander.</p><p>
  <em>I know I should talk to Will or Hannibal, but that would be so draining right now. <strong>No.</strong> Just focus on breathing and getting as much as you can done today, alright, (Y/N)? We don’t need you combusting over personal shit while your killer is still out there. Now, what <strong>haven’t</strong> we gone over yet?</em>
</p><p>You started to sift through some of your scribbles as a piece of paper slid out of place from within your notebook. You slightly tilted your head and pulled the paper out, seeing that webname that you had learned to hate.</p><p>“<strong>Tattle Crime</strong>”</p><p>You were going to shove the article back into your book, but you knew that your curiosity would only grow the longer you didn’t read it. With a disapproving sigh, you went ahead and read the article. </p><p>Freddie Lounds didn’t spend much time talking about the killer. She states that Dr. Pencalt was found like the other victims, and how he was a doctor with no obvious correlation to the others. Her “article” tends to focus more on you, Hannibal, and Will. </p><p>“<strong>Much like her brother Will Graham, who we have talked about before, (Y/N) <em>supposedly</em> has a gift for the psychologically strange and unusual. But we have to wonder why he isn’t working this case? Will Graham has successfully assisted Jack Crawford and his team on multiple cases in the past. So why bring on a rookie when you have a prized horse in the stables?</strong></p><p><strong>Maybe that is why Crawford decided to bring in Dr. Lecter, who was also an integral role in some of the cases that Will Graham had worked on. He has years of medical knowledge outside the realm of psychology that could be helpful in this case, considering the Virginia Scalped is suspected to have a medical background. Maybe <em>he</em> will be the key to locking the Virginia Scalpel up for good?</strong>”</p><p>She then went on to talk more about Hannibal before bringing up the case again. You couldn’t even fully grasp at what you were reading or how to feel about any of it before your phone rang beside you, bringing you back to reality. Only, you didn’t really want to deal with reality when you saw that the caller ID said “Jack Crawford.”</p><p>“(Y/N) here.” You tried your best to not sound unenthused, but you couldn’t help the obvious apathy in your voice.</p><p>“How soon can you get here?” You knew that this would end with you coming into the office for who knows how long, so you begrudgingly stood up and started to try to find a comfy but work-appropriate outfit to change into while talking to Crawford.</p><p>“I mean… An hour? <em>Maybe?</em> Give or take 10 minutes. Why? What happened?”</p><p>“Got that evidence you were waiting for.” You couldn’t discern if he was at all happy about that.</p><p><em> Of course, the one day I try to take it easy is the day we get results.</em> You took a deep breath in and tried to form a coherent sentence.</p><p>“I--Uh… Okay. I’ll try to--”</p><p>“I’ll see you in the lab in an hour.” Jack interrupted and then hung up before you could say much else, knowing that that was an order, not a suggestion. You put your phone down and groaned before starting to get dressed.</p><p>~~~~~~~~</p><p> </p><p>Pulling into your normal parking spot, you saw that you had made it to the office with 15 minutes to spare thanks to you not having the energy to do your hair or makeup today. </p><p>You got to your office and left the door open, knowing you would only be there for a minute or two. While you unpacked your bag, you heard someone clear their throat from your doorway. Turning around, you saw Will standing in the threshold with two cups of coffee. </p><p>“Look what the cat dragged in.” He tried to joke, but you just shot him a look. He winced and extended one of the cups out to you. “Peace offering?”</p><p>You sigh and accept the cup, not sure of what to say other than a quick “thanks.” Will stood there while you took a sip and continued to set up your stuff.</p><p>“You haven’t answered any of my texts.”</p><p>“I’ve been busy. And I’m <em>still</em> quite busy. I have to go and meet with everyone in,” you look at the clock on the wall. “5 minutes.”</p><p>“Jack’s really got his hooks in you, huh?” </p><p> “I <em>tried</em> to take a sick day and work from home, but lab results are in. Which means I’m also in.”</p><p>“<em>Sick Day?</em> You never use sick days.”</p><p>“First time for everything, I guess.” You turn around and try to walk past him but he stops you.</p><p>“(Y/N), I-” </p><p>“I <em>really</em> don’t want to talk. At least not right now. You <em>and</em> Hannibal are on thin ice right now. And there are more important a-and <em>time-sensitive</em> things that need to be taken care of.”</p><p>“Look, (Y/N), I can explain--”</p><p>“Explain <em>what</em> exactly? That you <em>really</em> didn’t trust me when I said that I could handle myself? That you really think I am going to let Jack push me so much during my first <em>real</em> case that you had to have Hannibal step in as some sort of watchdog? I know <em>you’ve</em> had bad experiences with Jack, but <em>goddamnit</em> can’t you just let me learn and experience whatever happens on my own?”</p><p>“You’re upset--”</p><p>“Not shit, Sherlock.” </p><p>“And I-I get that, but just--”</p><p>“<em>No</em>. <em>I</em> have a job to do.”</p><p>“Then come by the house later. Have a drink, o-or we can get takeout, and I can tell you my side of the story.”</p><p>You paused as you looked down slightly and started to fidget with your ring. Will is looking in your general direction, trying to figure out how to ease the anxiety that was surely coursing through your amygdala and hippocampus, or at least some of the resentment that had fought its way through your eyes.</p><p>“Even if you don’t want to talk and we end up just sitting around, I’m <em>sure</em> the dogs would like to see their favorite aunt.”</p><p>“I’m their <em>only</em> aunt.” You both smiled at the joke. His smile was more out of relief while yours was just a quick smirk. His fades quickly as you rub your face and sigh out, “We’ll see. I have no idea what’s waiting for me in the lab. So I can’t promise anything. And as upset as I am with you, I <em>do</em> miss those dogs.”</p><p>“Just let me know when you decide and we will make time for it.”</p><p>You just nod and he lets you walk past. Will follows you out and closes the door behind the two of you. Before you could hit the elevator button, he spoke out to you. </p><p>“Despite what you think, I <em>do</em> care about you, you know.” </p><p>You stop in your tracks and turn around to face him. You could see the pain on his face even though you know he was trying to hide it. Your heart broke as you took a large inhale.</p><p>“I know you do. We’re family. We’ll always care about each other no matter what.” You give him a small smile to try to reassure him that what you were saying was true. He nodded and headed back towards the lecture halls and you hit the button to call the elevator, preparing yourself for as much insanity as you could.</p><p>~~~~~~~~</p><p>“(Y/N), right on time” Jack announced as you walked into the lab. Everyone was there and ready to go, including Hannibal who was on the other side of the table facing you. You hoped that he wouldn’t put together how off you were feeling today from your rushed appearance.</p><p>“Sorry, I would have been here sooner, but I had a run-in with my brother. What’ve I missed so far?” You opened up your notebook and joined the circle around the exam table that had Dr. Pencalt’s body on it. You internally winced as you realized that Hannibal was most likely going to ask you about your ‘run-in’ with Will after this meeting. </p><p>“Nothing yet. We were just about to start.” Zeller spoke up as he clapped his hands together and began his presentation. A lot of it was information that was similar to the previous victims. All of the cuts were made with surgical tools to ensure clean cuts, no obvious mutilations outside the killer’s usual, all focus was on the doctor as opposed to his wife, and so on.</p><p>“The paralytic that was used on Dr. Pencalt was the same as the other vics. It was a high enough dosage that he felt the full effects within a minute or two.”</p><p>“Do you have the location and angle on the injection point?” Zeller nodded and handed you a printout that had various information about the small needle mark: diameter, insertion angle, depth, et cetera. </p><p>“He was pricked right here.” He used a gloved hand to turn Dr. Pencalt’s head and point to a small dot on the side of his neck. You just nodded and tried to imagine the killer coming and attacking him. You were starting to solidify the height range of your suspect.</p><p>“The angle is pretty flat, which means our suspect is either the same height as him or maybe an inch taller or shorter. How tall was Dr. Pencalt?” You heard Jimmy open a file and hum a note as he found out.</p><p>“5 foot 11.” You nodded and saw the height range of the shadowy silhouette of the killer in your mind narrow.</p><p>“So our killer is between 5’10” and 6’.”</p><p>“Is that all?” Jack asked in an audibly annoyed voice. You weren’t sure if it was directed at you specifically or at the situation in general. Jimmy, Brian, and Beverly all looked at each other as if they were kids who had broken an expensive vase and had to tell dad. Beverly was the brave kid that stepped forward.</p><p>“No. There is <em>one</em> more thing.” She turned around and got a tray from the other side of the room, bringing it back to the circle. “<em>This</em> was found lodged in his throat.”</p><p>On the tray, there was a distorted but still legible article from TattleCrime.com, the same article that was in your apartment. The only major difference was that this one was highlighted wherever it mentioned Hannibal or you. </p><p>“We tried to pull any sort of prints or DNA off of it, but the only thing we got was Dr. Pencalt’s blood and saliva. The article is from our <em>favorite</em> tabloid, Tattle Crime. It’s about the case, but it also talks about (Y/N) and Hannibal...”</p><p>You tried to control your breathing as Beverly kept speaking, forcing yourself to take slightly deeper breaths than normal hoping no one would pick up on it as you finally spoke up.</p><p>“So, fun story…” Everyone’s eyes landed on you. “I have that same article printed out, but <em>I</em> didn’t print it. Someone slipped it under my door the other night.”</p><p>You saw Jack readjust his stance, a frustrated look growing in his eyes, and started to speak, but you cut him off, already knowing where this was going.</p><p>“I didn’t bring it up because I <em>honestly</em> thought Hannibal or Will had slid it into my apartment as a way to try to scare me and make me resign from the case. For personal reasons, I have avoided talking to either of them unless it was absolutely necessary. So I never confirmed my theory.” </p><p>You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Hannibal or Jack. But if you had, you would have seen the small bit of guilt in Hannibal’s face. He knew no one else would pick up on it because he was a master at keeping his mask on to others, but after being with him as long as you had, you could see between the cracks. </p><p>Jack looked towards Hannibal.</p><p>“Dr. Lecter, did you send the article to (Y/N)?”</p><p>“I did not. I’m just as taken aback as everyone else here.” </p><p>“And did you receive a copy of this article at any point during the last week?”</p><p>“No. I have not read anything from Miss Lound’s website for a significant amount of time now.” Jack took a breath in and tried to be logical and figure out what the next step needed to be.</p><p>“Alright, you guys get me a list of every medical facility that supplies that paralytic. (Y/N), get your copy and give it to Price to see if he can get anything off of it. Then I want you and Dr. Lecter in my office.” Jack walked out before anyone could say anything.</p><p> You stood there in a bit of shock as you looked at the soiled article in front of you. You tried to read through the bits of blurred text. Everything involving you or Hannibal was doused in bright yellow marker. </p><p>“Um… (Y/N)?” You couldn’t help the small instinctual jump as Jimmy tapped your shoulder. You quickly looked to him, trying to look okay despite learning that your name was literally in a key piece of evidence. “You okay?”</p><p>“Hm? Y-yeah! I mean, not really, but we’re not gonna talk about that right now.” You let out a forced exhale that you tried to make sound like a chuckle through a very forced smile. Before Price could ask anything else, you spoke up. “Here. It-its right here.”</p><p>“And you were the only one to touch this, right?” Price asked as he carefully grabbed the corners of your Tattle Crime article with clean and gloved hands. You just nodded in response. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.” </p><p>You mutter a quick thank you and then make your way back to the elevator and back to your office to write out your notes on the killer’s more specific height range and the highlighted sections of the article in your notebook. </p><p>
  <em>Why us? I can somewhat understand Hannibal being chosen from an occupational standpoint. He is not only a psychiatrist, but he used to be a surgeon. But he has no ties to any of these other doctors. And what’s so special about me? I’m not a doctor of any kind. I don’t fit the killer’s m.o.</em>
</p><p>Your mind kept going on this internal monologue, trying to find any solid reasoning as to why both of you are now being focused on. It got even more frantic as you realized you only had about a week to figure it all out. </p><p>Before you could write out much, you heard a soft knock on your open office door. You didn’t even bother looking up.</p><p>“Will, I <em>really</em> can’t do this right now. I told you I would text you when-- <em>Oh</em>. Sorry, Dr. Lecter.” You expected Will to be impatient and try to talk to you again, but instead, you were met with the careful gaze of Hannibal. </p><p>“No need to apologize.” He shut the door behind him and took a seat. “I thought you were comfortable with addressing me by my first name, (Y/N). Has that changed?”</p><p>“Look, I know you’re not really here to talk about that. But I’m not okay enough to talk about our personal lives at the moment. And if you’re here to ask about the Tattle Crime shit, I have no idea how--”</p><p>“I came to check up on you because I am worried about you, (Y/N).” You were taken aback for a moment. Not only does Hannibal usually never interrupt you when speaking, but he isn't always the most forthcoming when talking about emotions or concerns.</p><p>“I’m fine.” You go back to trying to write out your ideas, knowing that if you gave him a fake smile, Hannibal would see right through it.</p><p>“The fact that you clearly stated that you were ‘not okay enough to talk about our personal lives’ and that you planned on taking a sick day today says otherwise.” </p><p>You took a deep inhale and closed your notebook. Trying to not dump all of your thoughts, work-related <em>or</em> personal, on him.</p><p>“It wasn’t really a sick day. It was supposed to be a day where I worked from home to try to remind myself to take a break and eat an actual meal, or do my laundry that’s been piling up, or maybe finally hang up that frame I bought three weeks ago. But apparently that wasn’t in my cards today. Yes, I’m tired. Yes, I don’t want to be around people right now. Yes, I really don’t want to be talking to you or Will about <em>anything</em> other than work right now. So if I need to be here, then I’m here. That’s my job.”</p><p>“But no matter how stressful a job is, you need to be able to recalibrate your mind so as to not overwork yourself until you become a hindrance. Holding on to the frustration and betrayal that you feel are surely contributing to that lack of ability to rest, (Y/N). If you allow yourself to talk to Will about it, or even myself if you feel more comfortable--”</p><p>“All of my focus is trying to go to this case, moreso now that you and I may be targets. I am your <em>colleague</em> and your <em>friend</em>. But I really don’t want to ruin the good relationship that we have by talking to you like I’m one of your patients, because I’m <em>not</em> one of your patients. So <em>please</em>, just--” </p><p>You stopped yourself as you felt something click into place. Hannibal watched as you had a similar look in your eyes like how he had witnessed at the Pencalt crime scene. </p><p>“<em>Patient…</em>” You were slowly closing your mind’s eye and seeing things clearly.</p><p>“You’ve figured something out, haven’t you?” Hannibal leaned forward in his seat in curiosity, truly enthralled by watching how your brain worked in these situations.</p><p>“A patient! The <em>killer</em> is a <em>patient</em>! <em>Oh my god!</em> We gotta go <em>now</em>!” You quickly stood up, grabbing your notebook as you did. “I think I just figured out who our killer is!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. "Under the Knife" - Part 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hannibal Lecter x Reader, Will Graham x Sister!Reader</p>
<p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p>
<p>Author's Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.<br/>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.<br/>This is beta-read by a close friend, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack was in the middle of a phone call when you opened his office door unannounced. He gave you an annoyed look until he saw something in your eyes that said that this was important. When he looked to Hannibal, who was behind you, he nodded slightly, letting Jack know that this was for sure something urgent. </p>
<p>“I’m going to have to call you back.” He calmly said before putting the handset back onto the office phone base. “What did yo-”</p>
<p>“I think I finally got into this guy’s brain!” Jack gives you an expectant look.</p>
<p>“Well?! Go on then!” You take a quick breath in as you speak, making your way to one of the chairs in front of Jack’s desk. Hannibal stood off to your right slightly.</p>
<p>“Okay. So, we’ve been looking for a doctor this entire time, right?”</p>
<p>“Yes, we have.” There was obvious hesitation in his voice, worried that you would just widen the suspect list instead of narrowing it down. You continued.</p>
<p>“Right. But what if our killer was actually a <em>patient</em> of these doctors?” You watched Jack quickly think it over, preparing for exactly what you thought he’d point out. You pulled out a couple of print-outs from within your notebook and waited for Jack to speak. Hannibal peeked over your shoulder at the paper and read a little bit of the top page while Jack spoke.</p>
<p>“It <em>would</em> tie the doctors together, but it wouldn’t explain the method of killing.”</p>
<p>“It does if this <em>patient</em> was a <em>former</em> doctor himself. A plastic surgeon to be more specific.” You hand Jack the papers, letting out a breath that you hadn’t realized you were holding. </p>
<p>The papers were from the initial suspect list you had gotten. You now had one person’s name and photo circled: Henry Urik. The second page was the basic information you had gotten on him early into the investigation.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>“<strong>Name</strong>: Henry Urik<br/><strong>Age</strong>: 29<br/><strong>Height</strong>: 5’11”<br/><strong>Weight</strong> (<em>Approx.</em>): 205lbs	<br/><strong>Hair Color</strong>: Reddish Brown<br/><strong>Ethnicity</strong>: White Male<br/><strong>Employment</strong>: Plastic Surgeon - <em>Inactive</em>”</p>
</blockquote>As Jack read over the papers, you felt yourself slipping into your mental pictures. You found that missing puzzle piece that brought everything together. You could now see it all, feel what he was feeling, and truly attempt to get into his mind. Jack looked up and saw you seemingly phase-out, but he had seen something similar when your brother, Will, would be at crime scenes. He and Hannibal stayed quiet and let you do your thing.<p>“Dr. Henry Urik started up his own practice relatively recently, but it failed. Probably due to some sexual allegations or misconduct or something. He popped up on the first few rounds of searches that I did, but then I saw that he wasn’t associated with any active practices or facilities, so I took him off the list. </p>
<p>He lost his job, which means he is anxious and stressed, which then potentially <em>and likely</em> leads to a range of psychosomatic ailments; soreness, fatigue, insomnia, and most importantly, <em>headaches</em>. After long enough, frequent or maybe even constant headaches would drive <em>anyone</em> mad. Which is why Henry decides to finally go to his primary care physician: <em>Dr. Everet</em>. I’m sure if we get a warrant and pull a list of all of the patients that have seen our victims over the last 2 - 4 months, we will find Henry’s name on each of them.”</p>
<p>“That’s not a long time to plan out 4, or potentially more, murders.” Jack points out, seeing you come back to reality. </p>
<p>“I don’t think these killings were really thought about or planned to every detail. He didn’t want to just kill them out of anger; <em>that</em> was for whoever <em>else</em> was in the house. He was angry and upset, but we can see that he took his time with the doctors. Maybe focusing on them and using his old medical instruments was a form of <em>relief</em> for him?”</p>
<p>“What kind of relief are we talking about here, Graham?”</p>
<p>“By shifting his focus from himself and his ailments, he’s distracting himself from his anxieties and stressors. Thus seeming to make his headaches dwindle.” </p>
<p>“In other words, pain relief?” You and Hannibal nod in agreement. Jack continues. “Okay, but what makes him so upset that he goes out and murders <em>four</em> doctors <em>and</em> their wives?”</p>
<p>“We’d have to double-check with the notes in his files from each doctor, but I can bet that he wasn’t happy with whatever test results or diagnoses they were giving him.” Before Jack could say anything, Hannibal finally spoke.</p>
<p>“I believe <em>I</em> can confirm that theory.” Both you and Jack turned to Hannibal with confused looks over your faces.</p>
<p>“Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Dr. Lecter?” Crawford had a hint of annoyance in his tone but kept it mostly neutral. You, on the other hand, were trying to look into his mask and see if he was being serious. As far as you could tell, he was.</p>
<p>“Dr. Urik was a patient of mine. I say ‘was’ because I only ever had two sessions with the man. He was referred to me by Dr. Everet. He showed signs of incredible anxiety over the idea of not being able to be in his profession after a patient accused him of sexual harassment during one of their appointments. He also showed signs that could be tied to bipolar disorder or something more severe. Unfortunately, I couldn’t form a full diagnosis after only those two sessions. I haven’t heard from him in roughly 4 months.”</p>
<p>“Which all lines up with (Y/N)’s profile.” Hannibal nodded.</p>
<p>“I tried to explain the possibility of his headaches being a manifestation of his anxiety, but he did not like that answer. Saying that it <em>must</em> be something tangible; something he could fix with medicine or a procedure.”</p>
<p>“Well, that explains why <em>you</em> are potentially his next target.” You spoke your thoughts out loud, which came out slightly snarky. </p>
<p>Hannibal turned his attention to you. You were slightly staring off. To anyone else, it would look like you were zoning out, but Hannibal knew that it was a sign of your mind working hard. </p>
<p>Somehow hearing that Hannibal had a possible solid connection to the killer, a wave of fear hit your heart. You cared about Hannibal, and you knew he cared about you. You weren’t sure he could tell, but one could say you had grown to love this man. And it only took being threatened by a serial killer to let that thought process in your mind.</p>
<p>“So it seems.” </p>
<p>“Aren’t you glad you joined the case now, Dr. Lecter?” You poked fun at Hannibal, the sharpness in your voice only evident to him. You thought you hid your true feelings well enough, but Hannibal could see right through your facade. He knew you were scared. Not only for his well being but your own as well; using humor as a way to make the situation seem a little less harsh.</p>
<p>Before Hannibal could respond, Jack posed a question.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t explain <em>you</em>, (Y/N). Why does this guy want to get to you?” You all pause for a beat. You try to get into Henry’s mindset and see any possible reason as to why you would also be targeted.</p>
<p>“I don’t think there <em>is</em> a reason. Maybe he read the TattleCrime article, saw that I was with Dr. Lecter, and then associated me with him. Or maybe he is following us and knows that I have a role in his case. Whether that means I am <em>actually</em> important to Urik or not, I can’t say for certain. He could just see me similarly to the wives of the other doctors. We won’t know for sure until we can ask him.”</p>
<p>As Crawford makes some decisions in his head, you can’t help but start to twist your ring. The idea of yours and Hannibal’s lives being in danger was a terrifying thought. You didn’t know what you would do if something happened to him and he wasn’t a part of your life anymore. Yes, there was still a ghost of confusion and uncertainty with him at the moment, but that was pushed to the backseat after today’s findings.</p>
<p>You looked away from Jack for a quick second to see if Hannibal showed any signs that he was scared. Much to your surprise, he was not only already looking at you, but through his stoic face, his eyes showed <em>something</em>. You looked away as you heard Jack lean forward in his chair, but you couldn’t figure out what that emotion in Hannibal’s eyes was.</p>
<p>After what seemed like forever, Crawford explained his plan of action.</p>
<p>“Alright, I’m going to get started on getting those files and getting a team out in the field looking for this guy. You two are going to have an armed agent following you until we get Henry in custody. They will be hidden, but know that you two will be protected.” You let out a small sigh of relief. “After you compile all of your notes and initial thoughts on Urik, have them sent to me. Then you two are dismissed for the night. Go get a drink or two. We are going to finally catch this son of a bitch.” </p>
<p>You nod and start to stand up to head to the door. Before you could step away from his desk, Jack got your attention.</p>
<p>“Graham.” </p>
<p>“Yes, sir?”</p>
<p>“Good work.” You couldn’t hide the proud smile that you tried to smother off your face as you said a quick “Thank you, sir” and made your way out of his office, Hannibal behind you.</p>
<p>Hannibal escorts you back to your office. Once you get inside, you and Hannibal spend a solid 20 minutes working out every detail that you could about Henry Urik. You quickly type it all out and send it through to Crawford’s email.</p>
<p>“Alright. Everything is sent and I am ready for a glass of wine and then passing out for the night for some much-needed sleep.” You started to get your bag together as Hannibal sat in one of the office chairs and watched you, trying to get you to be comfortable with him again. </p>
<p>“A well-deserved rest, my dear. You did incredible work today.” You quickly looked up to see him staring at you, a rare smile crossing his face as you two briefly made eye contact. You tried to hide the small blush that you felt creeping its way onto your face. </p>
<p>Hannibal didn’t smile often, and when he did around you, it always made your heart flutter. Getting to see that rare treat <em>and</em> have him compliment you on your work was an unexpected but appreciated way to end the day.</p>
<p>You let out a small “thank you” as you gathered the last of your things. Hannibal stood up and grabbed your coat from the back of your chair. He offered it out for you to slide into, but you didn’t want to wear it, so you took it from him and draped it over your arm. Another small thank you and you two were out the door, headed to your car. After being called out by your killer, Hannibal felt a bigger need to make sure you got to your car safely, even if you were going to have a guard watching you from afar.</p>
<p>He opened the car door, but before you could sit down, he finally asked what had been circling in his mind for the last 30 minutes. </p>
<p>“Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow? I understand that you have your reservations about talking to me recently, but now that you have done a marvelous job at putting a name to the Virginia Scalpel, I wonder if now would be a good time to try to talk personally. Perhaps even get back to how things were <em>before</em> this case.”</p>
<p>You stood there, the car door being a physical barrier between you and Hannibal. You instinctually fiddled with your ring, mulling over his offer. You can’t help but feel your heart hurt at the lack of time you’ve had with Hannibal. Letting yourself have time to just focus and work on the case over the last week was beneficial. You could now think about more personal things clearly and see that you weren’t as upset with Hannibal as you had been.</p>
<p>You look back up at him and see him observing you, trying to figure out what was going on in that wonderful mind of yours. A small smile grew on your face as you finally spoke.</p>
<p>“What’s for dinner, Hannibal?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. "Under the Knife" - Part 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Summary: You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hannibal Lecter x Reader, Will Graham x Sister!Reader</p>
<p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p>
<p>Author's Note: This is my first Hannibal piece and I am proud of it. There aren’t too many stories for Hannibal, so I figured I would add to the collection.<br/>This does take place in some happy medium where they are all alive and work together. Sort of a happier season 1 era.<br/>This is beta-read by a friend of mine but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today was the first day in awhile that you didn’t feel any intense pressure weighing down on your shoulders. You walked into your office, prepared to have another day of trying to figure out the puzzle that was the Virginia Scalpel. But as soon as you shut the door, you realized that you didn’t have to worry about that anymore. It was a strange relief that you hadn’t ever felt. </p>
<p>Although Jack’s tactical team still hadn’t caught Henry Urik yet and you were unsettled by him still being out there, you weren’t as scared as before. The killer that had been teasing you and that had named you one of his next victims now had a name. Jack’s team had all of the information that you and Hannibal could give them. You also had an armed agent watching over you and Hannibal until Henry was caught. </p>
<p>All you had to worry about at the moment was your 1 o’clock lecture on the “stereotypes of gender roles and how they can affect the psyche of an individual,” and then you could take a half day and go take a nap at home. Well, that and your dinner with Hannibal tonight. But even then, you weren’t as worried about that as you were about Henry still being out there.</p>
<p>Your lecture went by quickly, even the students seemed to understand everything rather easily. Only a couple asked a few questions for clarification after your presentation. Even with those students stopping you, you got out a bit earlier than anticipated. Looking at your watch, you realized that Will was going to be leading a lecture soon.</p>
<p>
  <em>I should probably talk to him. And I <strong>do</strong> really miss those dogs.</em>
</p>
<p>After stopping by your office to grab your bag and close up, you weaved through the familiar hallways to the nearest coffee machine, getting two cups, making one how you like  and one for Will. With both cups securely in your hands, you found the lecture hall he was assigned to today. You softly walked in, seeing your brother completely entranced in something on his laptop. Before you made it all the way into the room, you cleared your throat in effort to grab his attention. It worked. As soon as he located where the noise was coming from and saw you, he stood up and walked around to the other side of the desk.</p>
<p>“(Y/N)! Hey! Wh-what uh… What’s up?” You knew he was trying to not seem nervous, but you could see through him. You took a few steps closer and offered him the coffee cup, not seeing the probably empty one already on his desk. You tried to make your voice as comforting as you could.</p>
<p>“I was passing by and decided to stop by to ask you something.” </p>
<p>“Is everything okay?” Will was hesitant but took the coffee, looking all over you for any sort of tells as to what is going on.</p>
<p>“As okay as they can be.” You shrugged, not feeling anything in particular, which only added to Will’s worry and confusion.</p>
<p>“What’s going on, (Y/N)?” You pause, seeing the visible uncomfortableness and growing fear in Will’s features. You quickly try to find a way to calm him down while getting to the point of why you’re here.</p>
<p>“Do you think the dogs would mind their favorite aunt stopping by for a drink tonight?” You couldn’t help the small smile that crept across your face as a slightly bigger one formed on Will’s. You could hear the extra air he let out in his chuckle, an obvious sigh of relief. </p>
<p>“I think they would <em>really</em> like that.” His smile faltered a tad as he looked down to his hands. He spoke quieter, as if unsure how you would react. “<em>I</em> would really like that.” </p>
<p>As he looked back towards your face to see your reaction, you met him with a sincere and reassuring smile. </p>
<p>“Good. Me too.” Another huff of relief from Will. “I have dinner plans with Hannibal tonight. But I was hoping I could just drive over afterwards for a nightcap?”</p>
<p>“Sounds good to me. I’ll have the good stuff ready and waiting for you.” Will took a breath in, trying his best to be careful with his words. “<em>And</em>, if that nightcap ends up turning into a few, you could crash at my place.” </p>
<p>Again, Will looked as if you were a powder keg about to explode if the wrong button was hit. You just closed the gap between the two of you and wrapped your arms around his torso, his finding their place around you. </p>
<p>Your brother was not fond of physical affection from a majority of people. But you were one of the very few that he not only tolerated, but sometimes felt a need for. </p>
<p>“I’ll pack an overnight bag just in case.” You pulled away and tapped your hand on his upper arm. “For now, I am going to go home and take a nap.</p>
<p>“Jack’s letting you go home early?” Will was genuinely surprised. Jack was never one for early dismissals.</p>
<p>“Well, considering I <em>did</em> finally find out the Virginia Scalpel’s <em>real</em> name last night and got all my work with that wrapped up, I think Crawford is <em>a bit</em> more lenient on what I do today.” You casually mention as you shrug.</p>
<p>“You did <em>what</em>?!” Will’s expression was one of shock and pride. A handful of students filed in behind you. A playful grin graced your face as you tapped his arm one more time before taking a couple of steps backwards.</p>
<p>“I’ll tell you all about it later tonight. <em>I</em> need to get ready for this assuredly anxiety-inducing dinner and <em>you</em> have a lecture to get through.” Will gave you a slightly annoyed look as you winked and walked away, talking over your shoulder. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”</p>
<p>You couldn’t see it, but Will just shook his head and let his smile linger a bit longer before turning his attention towards his class. As much as he worried about you during this case, he was very proud of his little sister. </p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>When you got back to your apartment, you tried to take a nap. Key word: <em>tried</em>. Your brain would not calm down enough for you to fall asleep for even a quick cat nap. The coffee that you got before meeting with Will probably didn’t help.</p>
<p>After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, you gave up and decided to make some tea and get some cleaning done around your place. You hadn’t been able to do laundry thanks to the case, so you finally started to chisel away at that pile. </p>
<p>Once you had put the last load in the dryer, you looked at the clock and saw that it was 5 o’clock. You had an hour before you were supposed to be at Hannibal’s. Might as well take my time and get ready.</p>
<p>After fussing with finding a comfortable but semi-formal outfit to match Hannibal’s aesthetic, you quickly packed a backpack with some overnight things. You were sure you’d end up talking to Will for longer than you both intend, meaning you’d either be too tipsy or too tired to drive home safely. </p>
<p>With the last of your laundry out of the machine and plopped onto your bed for you to put away later, you grabbed your keys and headed out the door. Preparing for anything to happen.</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>As per usual, you pulled up to Hannibal’s five minutes early thanks to taking some backroads. You put the car in park and took the keys from the ignition, but you didn’t move. There was a tightening feeling in your chest. You tried to close your eyes for a moment and take some deep breaths. </p>
<p>
  <em>Dinner won’t be bad. Hannibal is a trained psychologist. If anyone is going to be able to guide the conversation into a calmer place, it's gonna be him. Plus you know damn well that you miss spending time with him that isn’t plagued by confusion or the fuckin Virginia Scalpel. You two are adults. You can talk about literally anything and be okay. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>So why am I still anxious?</em>
</p>
<p>Because you had your eyes closed, you didn’t see Hannibal approach your car. So when he opened your door, you instinctually jumped back and gasped.</p>
<p>“My apologies, (Y/N). I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you alright?” </p>
<p>“No. It's fine. I’m fine. I was just taking a breather.” Hannibal nodded, sensing that you didn’t want to expand on this further. So instead he held out his hand.</p>
<p>“Shall we then? I have some salmon in the oven that is awaiting your judgment.” He let one of those small side smiles of his grace his face in an attempt to comfort you as you reached for his hand and he helped you out of your car, shutting the door behind you once you got your purse. </p>
<p>Unlike usual, Hannibal led you to the dining room as opposed to the kitchen. He pulled out a chair for you. After you settled in, he poured you a cup of water and a glass of wine as he spoke.</p>
<p>“Everything is prepared, I just need to take the salmon out. I won’t be long.” You just thanked him and nodded as you took a sip of water. </p>
<p>Within a couple of minutes, Hannibal was walking in with two plates that looked just as artistic and beautiful as he normally presents. The main part was a rather large piece of salmon with thin lemon slices laid across the top, paired with a mix of halved grape tomatoes, white asparagus, and the same twirly romanesco broccoli that you had tried the last time you had dinner with Hannibal.</p>
<p>“This looks wonderful, Hannibal. Thank you.” You said as he sat down. The two of you started to eat, both of you trying to figure out how best to start the conversation that you knew was coming. Hannibal was the first to speak up.</p>
<p>“Are you planning on going somewhere?" You were caught off guard, not expecting this to be the starting point of your talk with him.</p>
<p>"What makes you say that?"</p>
<p>"I couldn’t help but notice the slightly overstuffed bag in your passenger seat. I assume it's for staying the night somewhere other than your own apartment. And while you’re always welcomed to stay here if you wanted, I don’t think you would without asking me first."</p>
<p>“Then you would be right. I wouldn’t impose on you like that.” You went to take a sip of your wine as you looked at Hannibal. He gave you a look that said that he knew there was more that you needed to share. “I talked to Will briefly today and we made plans for tonight. We are finally going to talk this all out. The bag is for in case I end up getting too tired and sleep on his couch."</p>
<p>Hannibal gave a slight nod before cutting off a piece of salmon and continuing the conversation.</p>
<p>“I'm sure Will is happy to finally have a moment to talk with you and share his side of the story."</p>
<p>“I'm sure he is.” You took a sip of your wine, bracing yourself for the unavoidable topic. “How about you, Hannibal?” Hannibal looked towards you and raised a curious brow. “What's your side of the story?”</p>
<p>Hannibal took a sip of water before turning his body slightly more towards you, giving you his full attention as he finally spoke on what he had been thinking about saying for days now.</p>
<p>“Will came to me rather distraught after you had said that you were going to accept Jack’s offer. It was <em>my</em> idea to insert myself into Crawford’s team as background support. And while my <em>original</em> intention for joining the Scalpel case was to ease Will’s mind, I couldn’t ignore my own reasons.” Hannibal reached a hand out and grabbed yours, you felt your cheeks warm at the unexpected contact. He was so gentle with you as he spoke sincerely.</p>
<p>“After seeing Will crack again and again under Crawford’s intense force on the handful of cases that they worked on, I was worried you would also be damaged under his leadership. I cannot deny that I do truly care about you and your wellbeing. And with this being your first time handling a major active case, I wanted to be there in case something were to happen to you.”</p>
<p>You weren’t sure what to say. Hannibal had not only told you that it wasn’t Will’s idea to have him follow you, but he admitted that he cared about you. The trouble was that you couldn’t tell if it was the type of caring that you had secretly longed for with a more romantic relationship with Hannibal or if it was similar to how your brother cares about you. You wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t fit together and be coherent enough for you to vocalize.<br/></p>
<p>While you struggled to figure out how to respond, Hannibal lifted your hand to his lips and kissed the back of your hand softly before putting it down and reaching for his glass of wine, raising it in your direction.</p>
<p>“Here’s to you and your impressive mind. Without you, who knows how long it would have taken to find out the true identity of the infamous Virginia Scalpel.” You raise your glass and gently tap his, finally able to form a coherent thought again.</p>
<p>“I’m sure Crawford would have just asked for your help or maybe even Will’s if I hadn’t said yes. I got lucky with this one.” You took a sip of your wine, savoring the sweetness of it as you started to slice the fish on your plate. “Honestly, I don’t think I would have figured it out without you inadvertently helping me.”</p>
<p>“How so?” Hannibal questioned before taking a bite of salmon.</p>
<p>“When you came to check on me after the lab meeting, I went on to say something about being your friend and colleague but not your patient. And that’s when it hit me that we weren’t looking in the right demographic.”</p>
<p>There was a moment of silence as Hannibal thought about where to go from this information.</p>
<p>“And how do you feel now?” You finished the bite of food that you had and looked at your water cup, not wanting Hannibal to see into your eyes even though he was already watching you rather intensely. Trying to read all of the nonverbal indications you were giving. </p>
<p>“I feel okay. Well, as okay as I can be. That insane pressure of figuring out who the hell Henry Urik is was bigger than anything I’ve had to deal with since I started working with the FBI. But there is still the fact that Jack’s team still hasn't found him that has been really messing with me. That and the anxiety of finally having this talk with you and my brother.”</p>
<p>“I hope that some of that anxiety has worn away now that we have resolved things between us?”</p>
<p>“<em>Some</em>. But I can’t help but be worried until everything is settled.” </p>
<p>“You now know that protecting you was my intention when I joined the Scalpel case. I don’t intend for that promise to end with this case being closed.” Hannibal’s hand casually found yours again, making you focus even more on what he was saying (if it was even possible to focus more.)</p>
<p>“I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you feel safe and taken care of.”</p>
<p>His warm hand was instantly comforting and you hadn’t realized how much you craved physical affection from him, even in the smallest forms. Your heart swelled at his vow. </p>
<p>Before you could fully process what he had said, the click of a gun being armed and a very different voice demanded your attention from the other side of the room. A man with messy red-brown hair cocked and aimed a pistol right at you.</p>
<p>“I don’t know if you wanna make that promise so soon, doc.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. "Under the Knife" - Part 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hannibal Lecter x Reader, Will Graham x Sister!Reader</p>
<p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p>
<p>Warnings: Cursing, Violence, Torture, Stress/AnxietyAuthor's Note: This is it! The big moment! There will be one more chapter after this! </p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the love and support this story has provided. I haven’t gotten this good of a reaction to my writing in a while and it honestly moved me to tears and motivated me to write more. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you thank you thank you.</p>
<p>This is beta-read by my friend, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Good evening, Henry.” Hannibal appeared to be calm despite the fact that a literal <em>serial killer</em> was in his dining room with a loaded pistol. </p>
<p>You on the other hand could barely breathe. It was as if your lungs had shrunk to half their natural size. Although it hurt, you forced yourself to take as close to normal breaths as you could. Panicking wouldn’t help the situation at all. Slowly, your hand found its way to your ring and you were able to focus all of your anxious energy there. </p>
<p>Staying calm was easier with Hannibal here. While you couldn’t take your eyes off of Henry, who was still aiming his pistol at you, hearing and feeling Hannibal’s more placid presence kept you from losing it.</p>
<p>“May I ask why you are pointing a gun at my partner, Henry?” Hannibal monotone but amiable voice spoke. </p>
<p>As much as you wanted to go over the fact that Hannibal had just called you his partner and distinguish which definition of ‘partner’ he meant, your focus was on Henry and trying to figure out how best to handle the situation.</p>
<p>“Let’s call it a precaution, Dr.Lecter.” Henry was looking at Hannibal, but then unsettlingly shifted his sights on you. “Now, (Y/N), I just want to talk.”</p>
<p>You couldn’t bring yourself to form words. You had no idea how to handle this situation. Figuring out the small details that a killer leaves behind at a crime scene or profiling a person based on their mannerisms was easy. But doing it in real time while the person in question has a fucking gun aimed at your chest? Where the hell do you even begin?</p>
<p>Hannibal saw your distress through your attempt at a neutral mask. He started to stand up and speak, trying to get the attention off of you long enough for you to figure something out.</p>
<p>“How about we--” Henry very quickly aimed the gun at Hannibal and shouted over him. You jumped in your seat and watched Hannibal’s interaction.</p>
<p>“<em>Sit</em>! Down!” There was obvious annoyance and anger in Henry’s voice. </p>
<p>You tried to look at him as if he wasn’t physically there.</p>
<p>
  <em>How would you advise an agent to interrogate someone like Henry? What would they have to be careful of? What buttons did he have that could be pushed for their advantage?</em>
</p>
<p>Hannibal held up his hands in an effort to show that he meant no harm (yet) as he slowly sat back down. Henry took off a backpack that you only just now realized he was wearing and blindly reached in, keeping his eyes on you and Hannibal. He quickly found what he was looking for and tossed it onto the table in front of you, landing on your plate. The noise of the heavy object hitting the porcelain made you jump again. </p>
<p>“Shut him up.” You took a shaky breath as you looked down to what was thrown at you. A medium sized roll of duct tape had shoved your lemon covered salmon off your plate and left a crack underneath. “Go on, (Y/N)!” </p>
<p>You took a deep breath in, knowing that if you didn’t do this simple thing, one of you was going to be shot. You couldn’t fight the shakiness in your hands that the adrenaline manifested itself as. Lifting up the tape you unwound a piece that was large enough to cover Hannibal’s mouth and please Henry. The screech of the tape made you tense up. </p>
<p>Turning in your seat, you faced Hannibal. His face showed no sign of uncertainty. But when you looked into his eyes, you saw beneath his mask. He <em>was</em> worried, not about himself or the fact that Henry had gotten to the two of you. Instead, he was worried about <em>you</em>. </p>
<p>“It’ll be alright, my love.” Hannibal spoke loud enough for you to hear. His words didn’t completely ease the intensity of the scene, but it did give you some hope. Hope that after all of this, you would be able to hear him call you that more often.</p>
<p>You nod and blink back the beginnings of tears that had wormed their way forward. Being as gentle as you could, you smoothed the tape onto Hannibal’s mouth, rendering him silent until the predator in the room allowed him to speak. You kissed his cheek before settling back down in your seat, you look back at Henry to see him pleased with your work.</p>
<p>“Now,” Henry moved closer to you, now within a couple feet and the gun even closer to your chest than you’d like. “I want to know what <em>you</em> think, Miss Graham.” </p>
<p>Henry poked the gun at your shoulder on the word ‘you,’ causing you to fearfully close your eyes and let out a shaky breath through your nose. You couldn’t see, but Hannibal was watching with a careful gaze and a tensed jaw as Henry invaded your space. You attempted to look composed as you faced Henry.</p>
<p>“About what, Mr.Urik?”</p>
<p>“That’s <em>Dr</em>.Urik to you! And what else would I want to talk about? <em>Me</em>, of course!”</p>
<p>“Why do you want to know what I think about you, Dr.Urik? <em>I’m not</em> a doctor by any means.”</p>
<p>“I know you’re not a doctor. <em>That</em> is precisely why I want to know what you think of me and my work.” Henry lifted his free hand to put pressure on the left side of his head as he painfully closed his eyes. He was visibly getting annoyed that you weren’t giving him what he wanted quick enough, which you assumed was bringing back his headaches. </p>
<p>
  <em>This is good! Keep thinking like this! Just do what you would do if you were talking to Jack or Hannibal about Henry! Please him for now and maybe you can figure out a way to get out of this shit alive.</em>
</p>
<p>You look at Hannibal for reassurance. He nods his head slowly and takes a visibly bigger breath to try and encourage you to do the same. You mirror his movement and find your starting point.</p>
<p>“Well, the first thing I notice is that you’re early.”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” You could tell that Urik was thrown off by your beginning statement even though he kept his eyes closed and rubbed the side of his head. Hannibal was watching with slight amusement as you tried to knowingly talk with a serial killer face-to-face. His mind worked on a way to disarm Henry and save you from the spotlight while you spoke.</p>
<p>“You’ve been pretty consistent with killing right around every two weeks. You still have a few days before the next two week mark. Which either means that you are getting addicted to the feeling, or your headaches are getting worse.”</p>
<p>At this, Henry’s eyes shot open and he leaned closer to you, pushing the barrel of the gun into your sternum.</p>
<p>“You said you’re not a doctor. So <em>how the fuck</em>--” The pain in your chest now elevated thanks to a literal gun being shoved against it while the unease of this whole show was taking its toll on your lung capacity. But you pushed through and interrupted him, giving him more information that you knew, refusing to give Henry the fear response that he craved and instead tried to go for an ‘understanding’ point of view.</p>
<p>“Dr.Everet was no help to you, so he referred you to Dr.Lecter for therapy after hearing that your medical practice was shut down for what I’m sure was <em>bullshit</em> reasoning, and an <em>eye</em> doctor to see if your headaches were correlated to something like an ocular migraine. But then your eye doctor, <em>Dr.Chasten</em> couldn’t find anything, leaving you deflated as you were then sent to <em>another</em> doctor, <em>Dr.Loriet</em>. <em>He</em> was supposed to find something in your inner ear or sinuses that could explain all of this. He is-- <em>was</em> an ENT specialist after all. You’d think he’d find something, right?”</p>
<p>“<em>Exactly</em>!” Henry pulled out the chair next to you and sat down, finally relieving the physical pressure of the gun off your sternum. “That asshole just ran his tests so he could take my money and then send me to another fucking ‘professional’ and have them do the same thing” </p>
<p>You could tell that your angle of trying to talk to him as an equal was working as Henry settled in a bit comfortably in the chair. The only major hostile game piece was the gun that was still in play.</p>
<p>Hannibal knew what you were doing and was impressed. At this point, you were feeling slightly more confident in what you were saying and how you were saying it. You knew you still had a lot of work to do to <em>maybe</em> have a chance of getting you and Hannibal out of this alive, but it's better than no chance.</p>
<p>“And Dr.Pencalt, he--” You started as calmly as you could but Henry interrupted, sounding like a child who was in trouble and angry about it.</p>
<p>“Was a load of horseshit.” You turned to face Henry more, now sitting side saddle in the chair, a nonverbal trick to let him think that you were really interested in what he had to say. The only downside was that Hannibal was now completely out of your view behind you. </p>
<p>“He was your last hope, wasn’t he?” At that, Henry’s leg started to bounce. Obviously that statement resonated something within him, he spoke louder and more emotional than before.</p>
<p>“Motherfucker was supposed to be <em>the best</em> of the best and <em>finally</em> run the procedures that I’ve been askin’ for since this pain started. A goddamn neurologist. He should have--” </p>
<p>“He did the tests though, right?”</p>
<p>“He took my money, shoved me into machines, poked and prodded me, only to tell me the same shit that all of them were saying.” </p>
<p>“That it's all in your head?” You crossed your legs and leaned forward just slightly, taking on a sort of motherly tone, trying to solicit a softer and non-lethal response from Henry. </p>
<p>Apparently that didn’t work. </p>
<p>Henry slammed his fist on the table, making you jump back in your seat, trying to get some distance away from him. You quickly looked over your shoulder to check on Hannibal. He quietly put a hand on your back for a moment; not only to keep you from falling backwards, but to also provide some comfort. Henry burst out, yelling louder than before, truly upset by your words bringing back memories. </p>
<p>“Well <em>of course</em> it's <em>in my head</em>! They’re called <em>head</em>aches! So there has to be a reason they’re here and kicking my ass! And those bastards don’t want to tell me!” You could see angry tears forming in his eyes. </p>
<p>
  <em>Definitely not the reaction I was hoping for.</em>
</p>
<p>You heard movement behind you. It was very quiet, but you heard the fabric of Hannibal’s suit move. You weren’t sure what he was doing and you couldn’t look back to check and bring attention to it. When you look back at Henry’s eyes, you see them shift to Hannibal. Before he could look closer and see any movement, you shifted in your seat to cover Hannibal and try to distract Urik. </p>
<p>“You-You’re using a gun for the first time! Which is <em>different</em>. Now I don’t think you <em>actually</em> plan on using that for both of us. You’re <em>the Virginia Scalpel</em>, not some lowlife gunman. But if you’re going to break your pattern and use that on anyone it would probably be… <em>me</em>. ” </p>
<p>Luckily, with Henry being so emotionally all over the place, he was receptive to the attention you were giving him.</p>
<p>“You’re right. This <em>is</em> new. Brand new actually. It's called a Hardballer! You like it?” He sort of showed it off like a game show babe would show off a prize. The lights in Hannibal’s dining room shined off the stainless steel barrel and absorbed into the dark handle base. You feigned fascination to try and keep Henry happy.</p>
<p>“It's beautiful! I mean, I would like it more if it <em>wasn’t</em> aimed at me, but I guess it's nice given the circumstances.”</p>
<p>Henry made a face and then, much to your surprise, uncocked the gun and put it on the table behind him, far enough away where you nor Hannibal could reach it. You watched him carefully as he leaned closer to you, trying to figure out what he was planning on doing next. He got to a certain point where you had to turn your face away because of how close he was getting. You quickly made eye contact with a very tensed up Hannibal. His eyes looked like those of a wolf: Dark, hungry, and protective.</p>
<p>Hannibal had been somewhere in the middle of being a curious bystander and a possessive guardian. This pig was threatening someone that Hannibal deemed to be his, whether you knew it or not. And <em>that</em> was a dangerous game to play with him.</p>
<p>As quickly as you made eye contact with your love, you were snatched away. Warm and rough fingers tightly gripping your chin, forcing you to look at Urik. When your fear-filled eyes met his, you felt the threatening chill of a scalpel being pressed against your cheek.</p>
<p>“Would you prefer <em>this</em> instead, miss Graham? </p>
<p>At this point, you couldn’t stop a dreadful tear slipping out and racing down your face, only to be met with the blade that was now pressing into your cheek. You felt the tip of the small knife poke through your skin just enough to start minor bleeding. A fear riddled whimper escaped your throat against your will. This kicked Hannibal into gear.</p>
<p>You heard motion behind you as Hannibal reached for the knife that he was using to cut into his salmon just a few moments ago. You braced yourself for whatever Hannibal was planning, expecting something to happen from behind you. Instead, you felt the scalpel drag through your cheek and across the cheekbone, earning you a lengthy gash. Henry had stood up and brought his knife up to point directly at Hannibal’s throat.</p>
<p>“Ah-ah-ah. Hands where I can see them, doctor. You’ll have your turn. Right now, I want to talk more with (Y/N).” You heard the knife drop behind you, Henry then taking the time to swipe away everything in front of Hannibal, leaving him weaponless.</p>
<p>You were now visibly shaking, something you were trying to avoid, knowing it would just fuel Henry. But you were losing hope in your ability to get out of this alive. You couldn’t see it, but Hannibal was furious that he couldn’t do anything to help you without putting your life at risk. </p>
<p>You were looking down, so you didn’t see the scalpel coming back towards your face. You had to stop yourself from jerking as you felt the cool metal under your chin, pushing your face up to look at your killer who stood in front of you now. </p>
<p>“Stand up.” Henry commanded as he turned the surgical knife so now the sharp edge was against the underside of your chin making you stand slowly; afraid that if you went too quick, the scalpel would find its home in your throat.</p>
<p>With the risks being as high as they were now, you followed him until you could figure out another tactic or if Hannibal could somehow find a way to get out. The two of you didn’t go far; only a few steps from the table. Henry turned you around so you now faced Hannibal with your back pressed against Henry’s chest and the knife pushed against your throat. Hannibal could now see the few tears that had fallen and mixed with the blood that was slowly coming from the cut on your cheek. No one could see it in his eyes, but the primal and murderous rage was building inside of him, close to bursting. He just needed a clear path.</p>
<p>“You know, there is a reason as to why I kill the wives so quickly.” Henry spoke in your ear but still loud enough for Hannibal to hear, obviously an intimidation technique.</p>
<p>“Oh really?” Your voice wavered near the end.</p>
<p>“People say that a quick death is considered a <em>mercy</em>, which would mean that <em>life</em> is technically a form of <em>torture</em>. I am saving these partners from a tortuous life created by their husbands.”</p>
<p>“You do realize that Hannibal and I <em>aren’t</em> married, right?” You look at Hannibal and see him tilt his head slightly. </p>
<p>To Henry, it looked like he was just making a movement to show he agreed with you. But you followed his head and his eyes to a point on the floor. When Henry had knocked everything off the table, he had failed to realize that a knife had fallen on the floor a foot and a few feet away from Hannibal. You took a deep breath in and gave a miniscule nod, which Hannibal read perfectly.</p>
<p>
  <em>We’re getting out of this.</em>
</p>
<p>“Yes. But I also realize that there is that connection between you two.” As much as you detested Henry, you had to agree with him on this. There was a connection that you and Hannibal had that the two of you couldn’t ignore anymore. “And that's good enough for me.”</p>
<p>You felt Henry lock his feet in place, preparing to slice open your neck just like how you saw on Mrs.Pencalt. Before you could think too much, you blurted out the first thing that popped into your mind.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, Henry!” You felt Henry stutter and stop out of confusion.</p>
<p>“What are <em>you</em> sorry for?” </p>
<p>“For making your headache worse.”</p>
<p>Before he could fully process what you had said, you threw your head backward, pounding right into his forehead. Henry dropped his hand from your throat and pressed both of them to his head to try to ease the pain that had now grown exponentially. You pushed through the throbbing pain that radiated across the back of your head and elbowed him in his diaphragm, causing him to lean forward in pain as you launched towards the table. </p>
<p>Henry forced himself to stand straight and try to refocus on you, letting out a string of expletives as he did. You quickly got to the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger.</p>
<p>But nothing happened. No loud bang. No thud of a body hitting the ground. Nothing.</p>
<p>
  <em>The gun was empty this whole fucking time.</em>
</p>
<p>You froze for a second, but that second cost you this fight. Henry grabbed you by your hair and swiftly crashed your head onto the table, knocking you unconscious.</p>
<p>Before Henry could end your life then and there, Hannibal expertly threw the knife from the floor at Henry, landing it in his left thigh. As he dropped his hold on you and his scalpel, Hannibal quickly stalked up to Henry; a true predator coming in to play with their food before the final kill. </p>
<p>A tight fist meets Henry’s abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. As Henry leans forward in pain, he is met with Hannibal’s knee rushing to Henry’s face, surely breaking his nose. As he is bent down further, Henry reaches into his pocket and finds the syringe he had prepared earlier. He gets a better grasp of it before heaving himself at Hannibal, aiming the needle at his neck.</p>
<p>Hannibal quickly stepped to the side and caught Henry’s hand with the syringe in it. He bent Henry’s arm back until there was a loud pop and a scream of pain, resulting in Henry dropping the tube full of paralyzer into Hannibal's open hand. </p>
<p>Henry felt a new wave of anger as his plan was falling apart.</p>
<p>With this second wind, Henry pulled the knife out of his leg with his uninjured hand and slashed at Hannibal, getting a slice across Hannibal’s hand. The unexpected cut caused Hannibal to recoil and let go of Henry’s wrist, but still managed to kick a heavy foot into the now open wound in Henry’s thigh. Henry faltered, giving Hannibal enough time to take the syringe and stick it into Henry’s neck, emptying the entirety of its contents into his system.<br/>

As Henry cried out in pain and involuntarily stumbled backwards, Hannibal walked close to where you were laying on the floor. He knew Henry dropped his scalpel near you. Hannibal was trying to keep his mind calm and focused on “<em>handling</em>” his unwelcome guest, but then his gaze fell on your limp body. Seeing you unconscious and not being able to clearly see if you were alive or not sent him over the edge. </p>
<p>He would come to your side in just a minute. For now, he picked up the knife, ripped the duct tape from his mouth, and let the familiar bloodlust consume him.</p>
<p>Henry was mid-charge, kitchen knife in hand, when Hannibal kicked his leg out straight and knocked Henry on his ass once again. Hannibal sauntered closer as Henry wobbled, trying to get to his feet but finding it progressively harder and harder to get his muscles to move at his command. Nevertheless, Henry kept attacking even though he could almost no longer bend his right leg.</p>
<p>Hannibal could see just how quickly the paralytic was coursing through <em>his</em> victim, obviously some sort of mutated version of the basic drug in order to quicken the effects. He let a devious smirk flash on his face, causing a twitch of fear to soar through Henry’s heart for a second as he tried to lunge at Hannibal, knife aimed and ready to land in the middle of Hannibal’s chest. </p>
<p>Before the kitchen knife could come close to Hannibal’s sternum, he reached and grabbed his wrist, twisting it harshly down to his side and pointed away from any potential contact, expecting Henry to drop the knife. Henry screamed but didn’t let go. He <em>couldn’t</em> let go. More and more of his body was being inhibited. Hannibal took this opportunity to follow in your footsteps and worsen Henry’s headache more. </p>
<p>The quick but painful clash was enough to disorient Henry. He could barely even try to recover when Hannibal plunged the scalpel into Henry’s shoulder, using all of his force to dig it in further and further until he could feel the metal hit bone.</p>
<p>The kitchen knife dropped next to him as the scalpel went further and further into him. He looked down and chuckled, the effects of the paralytic kicking in.</p>
<p>“There is something ironic about <em>the</em> Virginia Scalpel being killed by his own tools. Don’t you think, Dr.Lecter?”</p>
<p>“I supposed there is. Or perhaps it is like you said, Dr.Urik: Life can be perceived as a form of torture. Yours has been torturous for you and others for long enough.” </p>
<p>“Perfect.” Henry had used the last bit of muscle control he had left to get the last word and let out a pathetic chuckle.</p>
<p>Hannibal could feel Henry’s muscles tensing up and freezing, allowing him to toss Henry against a wall and watch him fall to the floor, unconscious and powerless. He took two quick deep breaths before rushing to your side.</p>
<p>He gently picked up your wrist and searched for a pulse. Once he found one, he let out a breath that he wasn’t aware that he was holding. He kept a hold of your wrist as he found his phone and dialed Jack Crawford’s number, letting your pulse be a grounding point for him. Hannibal was usually more put together during killings, but the added factor of your life being in danger threw him off his rhythm. </p>
<p>“Dr.Lecter, I don’t have any update for you. I will let you know as soon as I--”</p>
<p>“I’m afraid <em>I</em> have an update for you, Jack. Henry Urik was in my home this evening. He attacked (Y/N) and me.” Hannibal looked away from you for a moment to glance at Urik’s stiff but barely breathing body against the wall. He took a deep breath in, making it sound like a defeated sigh. “Henry fled after I fought with him. He is injured, but he escaped and I do not know where he went.” </p>
<p>“Are you alright?” Jack was now aware of the severity of the situation. Hannibal could hear him moving from wherever he was, preparing to make his way to Hannibal’s home.</p>
<p>“I have some minor injuries. But I’m afraid (Y/N) needs an ambulance. She is unconscious and most likely has a concussion. I’m doing what I can to stabilize her until we can get her to a hospital.” Hannibal reached up on the table and grabbed one of the cloth napkins, using it to clean up and apply some pressure to the slice that Henry had created on your face. </p>
<p>“I’ll be there with a med team and backup soon.” Jack hung up as soon as the last syllable came out. Hannibal put his phone on the table. He then lightly caressed your face, bowing down and kissing your forehead before standing up.</p>
<p>Hannibal stretched his neck and rolled up the sleeves of his now cut and bloodied shirt. It wasn’t the first shirt of his to be ruined by blood, but he wasn’t anticipating this one joining the collection. Looking at the disaster that was his dining room table, he poured himself a glass of wine as he sighs, truly upset that his nice and planned evening with you went so sour. He then slowly turned and made his way to the corpse on the other side of the room.<br/>
Hannibal picked up the kitchen knife that had fallen out of Henry’s grasp during the final blow and moved it around in his hand until it was comfy again.</p>
<p>“Now, Dr.Urik,” He squatted down next to Henry, dragging the knife across his stiff cheek as he took a sip of his wine before speaking. “What shall we do with you?”</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. "Under the Knife" - Part 10 (Finale)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>You are Will Graham’s sister who works with him at the FBI. When you get offered a job promotion, life starts to change. Some changes for the better; Some for the worst.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hannibal Lecter x Reader, Will Graham x Sister!Reader</p>
<p>Key: Chunks of text in italics are (Y/N)’s thoughts. Y/N = Your Name, H/C = Your Hair Color, E/C = Your Eye Color</p>
<p>Warnings: Cursing, talk of violence, talk of death</p>
<p>Author's Note: Well, we are finally at the final chapter. This has been such an incredibly challenging story to work on, but I have learned so much from this process that will no doubt help shape my future stories.</p>
<p>Thank you to all of the readers who have liked, reblogged, commented, messaged, and reached out to me. This has been the best response I’ve gotten on a story and it has filled me with a level of appreciation that I wasn’t expecting. &lt;3 </p>
<p>With the sappy stuff out of the way, please enjoy the final chapter of “Under the Knife.”</p>
<p>This is beta-read by @theeactress, but please let me know if there is something that we missed or that we should look at again!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Taking into account that Henry Urik was left-handed, I was able to throw my head back, causing him to falter, and then lean to my <em>right</em> in order to escape his grasp and <em>not</em> have my throat sliced open. This gave me enough time to get back to the table and get my hands on the gun.” </p>
<p>“Unfortunately, the gun was empty. It’s common for killers to use unloaded or fake guns as intimidation techniques with their victims. My mistake gave Henry enough time to stabilize himself and grab hold of me again, resulting in a mild concussion and being knocked unconscious until a few hours later. Luckily Dr.Lecter was able to fight, thus saving me until Special Agent Crawford and his team could come.” You looked around and saw a few people taking notes while others just nodded their heads. Checking your watch, you saw that you had a few more minutes left to fill up. “And with that, I have time for one or two questions before we leave.”</p>
<p>The lights faded up a little bit, nothing too harsh for you. You quickly scanned over the larger than the normal crowd in your lecture hall. </p>
<p>The fact that you, a <em>survivor</em> of the Virginia Scalpel, were giving a lecture on the case had attracted the minds of not only your normal trainees but the higher-ups as well. </p>
<p>It was a slightly dizzying feeling to see the faces of management in your lecture hall, but that could also be the still healing minor concussion from a serial killer slamming you into a table a little less than a week ago. Either way, you took this time to sit on your desk and drink some water as you pointed to one of the trainees in the first row.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to bring up anything too triggering, ma’am, but I--”</p>
<p>“Kid, if I wasn’t okay enough to jump back into the shitstorm named Henry Urik, I wouldn’t have agreed to be here today.” A scattering of chuckles echoed through the hall. You were glad to hear that your lighthearted comment helped ease the tension in the room. “Please, continue. I’ll be okay, I promise.” The agent nodded and took a breath, whatever they were going to ask must have been weighing on their mind enough to scare them. You could tell that they were trying to hide it, but your ability to read people's subtleties was strong.</p>
<p>“Thank you, ma’am. I wanted to ask for your advice. What should we be aware of if we’re ever in a similar situation with an unstable or unpredictable suspect? What do we do?” </p>
<p>You nodded and thought for a moment before you responded. You had a feeling that this type of question would come up now or through an email later on. Fiddling with your ring, you spoke.</p>
<p>“To be honest, you have to be able to assess everything at the moment. I may have seemed to have a handle on the situation externally, but internally? I was a quivering, frantic, and terrified mess. With Henry’s focus being solely on <em>me</em>, I knew I couldn’t just sit there. I knew that if I froze, it could have cost not only <em>my</em> life but also Hannibal’s.” You took a deep inhale through your nose before continuing. The thought of losing Hannibal hurt your heart. “My advice: <em>really</em> focus on the suspect. What are they <em>saying</em>? <em>How</em> are they saying it? What are they <em>doing</em>? Are there any <em>mannerisms</em> o-or <em>phrases</em> that hint at <em>any</em> sort of soft spot?” </p>
<p>You held up a finger and turned to your computer, scrolling back through your presentation until you found the slide you were looking for. It was a diagram showing how all of the victims tied to Henry as well as Henry’s symptoms. You turned back towards your class.</p>
<p>“While I knew a majority of this information <em>before</em> my encounter with Dr.Urik, I only knew the facts at face value. When he and I talked about his experiences with all of these doctors, Henry let his anger and annoyance towards these men out. His voice changed from the seemingly calm and confident man that had just had a gun pointed at me, to a frustrated patient who just wanted answers that he believed in.”</p>
<p>“Now if we want to talk about more <em>physical</em> tells, that is the premise for another lecture entirely. You can tell a lot about a person without either of you having to utter a word.”</p>
<p>You looked at the trainee, they were watching you, truly listening to everything you had to say. From the almost unnoticeably tensed jaw to the stiff posture, this future agent was using all of their power not to tremble in fear at the thought of being in a scenario like this. You saw the fear in their eyes.</p>
<p>“As long as you breathe, remember your training, and let yourself fully assess the situation at hand, you’ll do the best you can do. Trust me, there were two very distinct moments that night where I thought and accepted the possibility that I was going to die. That’s a risk we all take with this job. But I focused on what I could do next and kept going. And that’s what you’ll learn throughout your time in training <em>and</em> in the field. You can<em>not</em> stop, you <em>have</em> to keep going.”</p>
<p>You ended with a smile directly to the trainee to try to calm their nerves even a little bit. They visibly took a deep breath and nodded, giving you a quiet “thank you” before writing something in their notebook. Your saw movement out of the corner of your eye. Will and Hannibal were now standing off to the side, letting you know that you were almost done. Will was more rigid than usual. You assumed he heard the part about accepting death and he did <em>not</em> like that thought. </p>
<p>Hannibal caught your eye as he tapped his watch. Nodding, you looked back to the class, prepared to dismiss them. That was until you saw a hand near the back. Before you could say or do anything, the man with the raised hand spoke. </p>
<p>“How were you able to <em>confirm</em> the Scalpel’s motive? What stood out with him that made him suspect number 1?” You took a slightly larger breath as you realized it was one of the assistant directors speaking. Blinking a few times and gathering your thoughts you tried to sound as professional as you could. </p>
<p>“Well, we originally were looking for an <em>active</em> doctor. Someone who could have access to the equipment and drugs needed for these killings. But then we realized that it could be a <em>former</em> doctor who was now a patient of <em>these</em> doctors.” You gestured to the slide projected behind you. “As for motive, we could only theorize until we talked to Henry himself. And while talking to him face-to-face last week revealed a lot, we cannot actually confirm anything when it comes to his psyche.”</p>
<p>“But you said it yourself, he was frustrated at the answers that these doctors had given him. So wouldn’t the Virginia Scalpel murders be crimes of passion, making his motive emotional overload?” The man spoke. You were thrown off just a bit, but found your way back to correct wording.</p>
<p>“They actually <em>weren’t</em> crimes of passion. Those are usually <em>impulsive</em> and emotionally driven. The Virginia Scalpel crime scenes, especially that of Dr.Pencalt and his wife, showed us that Henry was methodical and purposeful.” </p>
<p>“Yes, there <em>could</em> have been an emotionally charged aspect to it. He was upset with these men. I theorized with Dr.Lecter and Special Agent Crawford that these killings <em>could</em> have been some sort of pain relief for his headaches. The act of slaying these men took all of his focus, alleviating the pounding in his head.” </p>
<p>“At one point, he said that killing was a form of mercy and life could be considered torture. So he could very well have just wanted to spare them from this mortal coil. Or maybe Henry saw these murders as a way of <em>honoring</em> them. Maybe there was even a <em>thrill-seeking</em> aspect that he got a kick from.” You stood up from your spot on your desk, feeling yourself getting a bit weary after so much talking over the last hour or so, and tried to politely wrap this all up.</p>
<p>“Where I’m going with this is the fact that we can theorize all we want-- Hell, we can even settle on what <em>we</em> believe his motive was. But that’s all it’ll be: <em>A belief</em>. We will never <em>truly</em> know because Dr. Urik was found dead in the woods behind his former office building, stabbed a handful of times, and had enough of his own paralytic drug in his system to take down an ostrich.”</p>
<p>They were out of your sightline, but Hannibal and Will both smirked at how well you had handled the situation. It wasn’t often that managerial positions were proven wrong in front of a classroom full of people. However, both of their smiles slowly fell as the assistant director continued.</p>
<p>“I guess his death is a breath of fresh air, right? You can sleep at night knowing that the Virginia Scalpel is no longer out there. No more target on your back.” The assistant director tried to say that as a lighthearted joke. Something to lighten the mood. But you forced a pained smile and spoke your mind.</p>
<p>“Yes. I am thankful that I don’t have to worry about a scalpel cutting into my cheek again, or almost slicing my throat, or finding Dr. Lecter chopped into pieces in his bed or maybe even Henry breaking his pattern and going after the last bit of family that I have left. I guess sleeping <em>should</em> be easier, shouldn’t it, Assistant Director?” </p>
<p>You looked directly at the man as you spoke, the gravity of your situation and the insensitivity of his statements hitting him. You shifted your gaze to the trainees that were in the first few rows and continued, straightfaced. </p>
<p>“But I <em>am</em> curious as to what he would have to say and how <em>that</em> perspective could have helped us catch others like him. I hope that you all can find that same curiosity as I do. If we can catch them and talk to them, we could learn what makes them tick and get information that could help us catch the next one before it's too late.” You let a beat of silence pass, letting your words sink into the minds of the young ones. “Thank you all for your time. For questions regarding the Virginia Scalpel case, please contact Special Agent Crawford and he will see if you are authorized to view the file notes. If you need to reach <em>me</em> for any reason <em>other</em> than the Virginia Scalpel case, you all have my email. Stay safe out there.” </p>
<p>You turned away from the class and shut down your computer, trying to gather your things as the room applauded. You raised a hand as a way of saying “thank you but please stop” and they all filed out of the room. </p>
<p>“I think that went well despite Assistant Director Ass-Hat’s commentary at the end there” Will made his way to you, grabbing your jacket from the chair behind you and holding it in his hands, gripping it tighter than normal as if doing so would solidify in his brain that you were here and safe.</p>
<p>“Thanks. For someone with a shaken brain, I think I did pretty good today.” You joked back at your brother. Looking over your shoulder, you saw the beginnings of his brain spiraling with worry. </p>
<p>If he was being honest, Will still hasn’t fully gotten over the events of last week. It was his exact fear almost coming true. And while he was forever thankful that you were alive today, he was worried that this near-death experience wouldn’t be enough to stop you from continuing to work active cases. The fact that you wanted to give this presentation so soon after you were released from the hospital validated his worry more and more.</p>
<p>“I still think it’s too soon for you to be back here.” </p>
<p>“If you had your way, I would never step foot near this building again, Will.” You joke over your shoulder as you slide your laptop into your bag. “But I also think that that is just your way of trying to get me to be a 24/7 dog sitter.” Will huffed out a breath that sounded like a dry chuckle.</p>
<p>“I’m not saying that, <em>but</em> if you ask Winston or the others, I’m sure they would be all for that idea.” </p>
<p>You finally turn fully to Will and lightly smack his arm. His face fades from a small smile to an unmasked face of worry as he looks down at the jacket in his hands that he is still fiddling with.</p>
<p>“I know this isn’t going to change your decision on whether or not you stay with Jack’s team, but I really don’t like that idea.” </p>
<p>“You said the same thing the <em>first</em> time we had this conversation.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but that was <em>before</em> you got seriously injured while working a case.”</p>
<p>“I wasn’t <em>seriously</em> injured.” Will was going to interject, but you kept talking. “But I understand. What we do is dangerous. But I’m going to say the same thing I said last time: I have the chance to save lives, and that is a good enough reason for me to stay.” </p>
<p>Before either of you could continue, Hannibal finally made his way over. His hand landed comfortably on your lower back for a long moment to alert you of his presence. </p>
<p>You and Hannibal had talked about your mutual feelings for one another and agreed to start exploring a romantic relationship. That being said, you haven't told Will yet. Luckily, the gesture from Hannibal was easily passed as friendly to your unknowing brother.</p>
<p>“The assistant director wanted me to pass along his apology, (Y/N). He didn’t mean to insult you with his statements.” You waved your hand dismissively.</p>
<p>“I know he didn’t mean to. But it was a nice excuse to hand a ‘powerful male’ his ass in front of a whole room. I’m sure his ego will bounce back in no time.” You let a devilish smirk grace your features, earning a smile from Hannibal and a chuckle from Will. </p>
<p>Hannibal looked to Will and saw how he was holding your jacket. Hannibal just offered his hand.</p>
<p>“I can take that, Will. You should go. You don’t want to be late for your own lecture. I will make sure your sister is safe.” </p>
<p>The hospital discharged you, but you were still healing. The cut on your cheek was almost healed, but you kept a bandage on it to be safe. A scar would surely form, permanently reminding you of your first case. Most people would associate it with the fear of impending doom by the hands of a serial killer. But you were actually okay with it. You saw it as a reminder of what you were able to survive.</p>
<p>The most inconvenient thing was that you weren’t allowed to drive yourself. Between the healing concussion and the medications you were on, driving was not the safest thing. So Hannibal and Will took it upon themselves to compare schedules and be your drivers. </p>
<p>When Hannibal had afternoon patients or had to work late on something, you would stay with Will. On days where Will was needed at work, you would stay with Hannibal. Sometimes you would stay in their homes, and sometimes they would crash on your couch. Well, <em>Will</em> would crash on your couch. Hannibal would share the bed with you, protecting you from anything that would try to get you physically or mentally. </p>
<p>Even when you decided to stay at Hannibal’s home, you felt safe. The dining room was a bit haunting. But you knew that no matter what, if something felt off or if you were in any sort of danger, Hannibal would step up and help the best he could. </p>
<p>Your boys (and the dogs) made sure you were safe no matter where you were.</p>
<p> If there was <em>anyone</em> Will trusted to watch over you, it was Hannibal. He was the reason you weren’t the Scalpel’s ninth victim.</p>
<p>Will just nodded and struggled to hand over the jacket. Your heart ached because you knew how easily concerned he got when it came to you. But you could also see that he was trying to let go of some of that worry, letting himself see that Hannibal was a safe man to have in your life. You closed the gap between you and Will and wrapped your arms around him, feeling how tense and distraught he was. </p>
<p>“I will text you as soon as I get home, alright?” Will nodded his head as he squeezed you just a bit tighter. You squeezed back, knowing he needed the reassurance. He pulled away and you patted his shoulder. “Don’t give your kids too much shit today.” </p>
<p>You both snorted, knowing there was some truth behind the joke. Will said goodbye to Hannibal and left the room, leaving you and Hannibal alone.

</p>
<p>As much as you wanted to hurry up and get out of here, you had to lean against the desk as you zipped up your bag, really feeling your lack of energy now.</p>
<p>“Are you alright?” Nodding, you took a sip from your water bottle before speaking.</p>
<p>“Yes? Did a lot of talking and thinking today. I think I’m starting to get tired.” You let a chuckle-esque exhale come through your nostrils. “Gotta build my energy back up.”</p>
<p>Hannibal stood in front of you, gently placed your jacket down on the desk, and took one on your hands in his. To any normal person, it just looked like he was holding your hand to comfort you. But you knew him. He was gathering data: Pulse, temperature, if your hands were clammy, and whatever else he could find out. But he was also holding your hand to comfort you a little.</p>
<p>After determining your vitals to be manageable, he lifts his hand to brush a few strands of hair from your face, letting his thumb stroke your cheek for a moment.</p>
<p>“I think it's time to go home and rest, don’t you?” Hannibal proposed. You nodded and grabbed your jacket from next to you.</p>
<p>“My place or yours?”</p>
<p>“Your choice, my love.” You couldn’t help but smile at the new and special sobriquet that Hannibal had started using more frequently. Hannibal kissed the back of your hand before helping you stand up, putting your hand on his arm to guide you out.</p>
<p>“I think my place tonight. And maybe we can stop at the store on the way and you can finally show me how to cook something worthy of the <em>esteemed</em> food artist, Hannibal Lecter?” Hannibal smirked at your dramatics.</p>
<p>“Do you think you’ll have the energy for that?” </p>
<p>“No. But I’d still like to try.” You leaned towards Hannibal and felt a pleading smile make its way across your face, knowing Hannibal was already going to agree to your idea. He still pretended to think it over before nodding. </p>
<p>“That sounds like a lovely evening.” You felt yourself wiggle just a bit out of happiness, Hannibal smiled at the cuteness of the motion.</p>
<p>Hannibal reached out and touched the doorknob, but before he could open the door, you were distracted by your phone buzzing in your pocket. When you looked at the caller ID, your feet stopped moving and your heart dropped. You couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or excitement. Maybe a weird mix of both.</p>
<p>Hannibal turned to you, watching your face carefully as you answered.</p>
<p>“(Y/N) speaking.” </p>
<p>“How you feelin’, (Y/N)?” You hadn’t heard Jack’s happy voice in a while. You weren’t sure if this one was real or fake. So you proceeded with caution.</p>
<p>“I’ve been better, but I’m also doing a lot better compared to a few days ago.” </p>
<p>“Good. Good...” Crawford trailed off, his mind obviously on something else. </p>
<p>There was an awkward silence. You knew Jack was trying to figure out how to phrase something without stressing you out after the last couple of weeks. You knew <em>what</em> that something was and you appreciated the effort to try and not overwhelm you, but you didn’t like this small talk part. So you took a deep breath before kick-starting the conversation that you knew Jack was trying to ease into.</p>
<p>“I get the feeling that this isn’t a social call, is it, Jack?”</p>
<p>“No. It is not, (Y/N). We have another odd case that we could use your help with.” </p>
<p>You felt your thumb subconsciously go to wiggle your ring. You knew this conversation was going to happen eventually, but even knowing that didn’t lessen the anxiety you felt. Hannibal stepped closer and took your hand in his, lightly running his thumb across your knuckles. You knew he was trying to ease your mind with the small gesture. You mouthed “Thank you” to him and smiled. </p>
<p>Jack continued before you could say anything. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now. But the sooner the better.”</p>
<p>“How about I get back to you tomorrow afternoon?” You stated more than asked. Jack agreed to that and hung up. Hannibal could see that you weren’t stressed but you also weren’t excited. </p>
<p>“I take it Agent Crawford wants to borrow your mind again?” You nod your head, going back and forth in your mind about whether or not to take him up on his offer again or let yourself rest for a bit longer. “What’s stopping you from saying yes?”</p>
<p>“Not much to be honest.” You look at Hannibal and see him watching you, ready to react to anything you say or do. “Can I ask you something?”</p>
<p>“Of course.” </p>
<p>“Could you be my partner, Hannibal?” You ask and almost fear his response. You didn’t want to be a burden. But very quickly you are met with that lovely rare smile of his. </p>
<p>“It would be an honor to be your partner, in life <em>or</em> on a case.” You smile as you lean towards him and he meets you halfway, pecking your lips softly, his hand smoothing its way to your back. The two of you pull away and he ushers you out of the room. “After all, someone has to protect that beautiful and reckless mind of yours.” </p>
<p>You shot Hannibal a look as the two of you walked to his car, ready for one more relaxing night before jumping right back into the chaos.</p>
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